Ants - harmful or helpful?

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greenidlady Stillwater, MN(Zone 4a) Jun 19, 2010

This year, my garden is FULL of ants - small brown ones, bigger reddish-brown ones, and big black ants. I dug a new hole in my garden (I grow vines - morning glories, cypress vines, cardinal climbers, butterfly pea vines, cobaea scandens, lavender moonvines, and moonflowers), and I was absolutely swarmed by a bunch of the big black ants! I know that there are types of ants that farm aphids, but I don't know if we have that kind here in Minnesota. I'm wondering whether ants, in general, help or harm a garden. If I should try to get rid of them, is there a way I can do that without harming any beneficial insects? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

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ecrane3 Dublin, CA(Zone 9a) Jun 19, 2010

Unless they're farming your enemies (aphids, scale, etc) they don't typically do much damage by themselves. I would keep a close eye out though--if you see them crawling up and down your plants, then you may have aphids or scale so make sure you take a close look. But if they're not on the plants then you don't necessarily have to do anything about them. Spinosad is an organic treatment that will help control some types of ants--it is more selective than a broad-spectrum insecticide, but it does kill some other things besides ants so it could impact some beneficial bugs. If they're ants that are attracted to sweets (which would be the sort that would farm aphids), boric acid baits can be effective in small areas, although to cover your whole garden would be quite challenging. The boric acid baits wouldn't affect anything but the ants.

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greenidlady Stillwater, MN(Zone 4a) Jun 19, 2010

Hey - thanks! Now I know what to watch out for and I'll stop worrying so much!

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