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Multiple ants nests in flower bed

(I thought I had just posted this discussion but it's nowhere to be found, so apologies if you find me repeating myself ...)

Anyhow, back to business ...

I want to plant dahlias in a prepared bed that has been left under old carpet for the past few months only to find that there are multiple ants nests lurking beneath said carpet. Is this likely to be a problem and should I water-in appropriate nematodes, or just work around them and live with them? Any advise or experience to share would be much appreciated.

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  • PRO
    Ants can be a nightmare when it comes to plants with soft fleshy growth inc flowers, my advice would be deal with any ant problems before you plant up as ants can be as devastating to flowers as slugs can, nematodes are a good way to deal with the problem as its all natural... Good luck
  • I have never had any issues with ants, but just rake the area, then water it well, leave for a couple of days and you may find that the ants have moved their nest.

    With that carpet you created an ideal place for them to breed, now that the carpet is gone, their nests are exposed to the elements. They should just go by themselves, especially if you rake the area well, maybe even fork it out a bit.

  • Ant powder will shift them but if you're anti chemical then a really good soak should get rid of them.

  • What you see at ground level is just the tip of a nest, where there are eggs on the surface there will be a whole nest underground so unless you apply nematodes or physically dig and move the nest it will remain underground.  That said I have not found them to cause too much damaged when planting something.  Although they can be a problem when there are aphids around and they start farming them.

    • We get vast amounts of ants here.  They can be a pain climbing fruit trees (and dahlias :-).

      They seem to like to congregate round the roots of weeds.  If there are eggs on the surface, a squirt of fly spray will sort them.

  • Thanks for all your responses. I've plumped for exposing them and digging them out - and the amount of torrential rain we've had since helped flush 'em out too! Fingers crossed.

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