HELP! Red Ants

Oh I feel for you, they really are a big problem. Like you I suspect they sting me and it hurts. The odd thing is I know a bloke who gardens with them all over him and they don't bother him. I'm fortunate in that I have the black ones that don't sting. Someone once told me that the black ones kill the reds. I wonder if you could import some blacks.

Yes that would be good Heron, but there just everywhere, my lovely Grandaughter just screams, she do so enjoy gardening, i hope this don't put her off, she 7yrs, i think i will try ant powder i'm just worried about growing anything afterwards.

oh dear Pepperp, sorry cant help you but i was on plot today and i have got a bed full of black ones aghh cant stand them and dont want to use chemicals etc on beds, oooh we need help is, there an ant person out there with an answer ...

There is an animal that eats them, forget what it's called.

I WISH lol.....:o)))

Oh, that's horrible for you ... I dug some small planting holes today and found red ants' eggs deep in the ground. No idea how to get rid of them ... somebody on GoY is bound to know !

heron would that be an anteater lol ? :o))

Boiling water was my fathers solution to ants? Pepperpot is there an allotment or garden club locally? as they may have dealt with this problem already - worth a try?

`What a terrible death...Boiling water, must be agony!! I am sure that ants
are okay, i do not think they are a problem, except being stung by them.
I think they are the same as the black, you can still garden with them
around. They are usually found in very dry places, or in lawns. Now the Weather is warming up, you will be seeing lots of them...

Joanella, why didn't I think of that? Anteater lol....education is a wonderful thing :-))

Ants are not nice if they get in the house FP, I get black ants in my rockery but they dont seem to do any harm?

Lol, But! come on people i need HELP! .......:o))))))

I have sent you a pm about a well known firm that sell Red ant killer etc.

My Gran used to put a single line of talcum powder outside the kitchen door to stop ants entering ... and it worked !

Pepperpot, go to a DIY store or a GC, or even a supermarket and buy some 'Ant Stations'. These are little round 'boxes' which you hide under a plant or somewhere near where the ants are, and the best bit is......they WORK!!

Ants get a bad name,trooping into our houses after sugary foods and spoiling
lawns with their nests, but they are not all bad. Did you know ants are
protected by law in some Countries because of their role in keeping forests
healthy? In our gardens they eat small insects and can even help with
composting, recycling plant & animal wastes.
Now, Pepperpot has that changed your mind at all? I got this reading out
of GNews... I bought the latest edition which, by the way..Has a super pull-
out Wild-Life Special...All Members please note!!!

I haven't tried this but an old gardener said to get rid of ants in the garden buy a small bottle of clove oil from the chemist and mix it with a watering can full. Use the sprinkler end and water all the earth and lawns. (I bet this would take up quite a lot of clove oil and I haven't got a clue how much it costs). Sorry, not really very helpful as I haven't tried it. Also I don't know if it affects any plants - I wouldn't have thought so but I am not sure. Perhaps someone else knows a bit more about clove oil.

Pepperpot don't panic, boil up the kettle and water on the ants. You need to do this a few times. This happened to me last year. Also go to www.plantsbypost they have a organic control for ants. Ill check later for you and pm you.

Ok thanks Great, thankyou all for your advise, but no magic remedies,:o)))

I've seen red ants down at the allotment when I've been digging these last few days. They haven't bothered me.

One year when we still lived in Spain a tiny black ant came up to our flat on the 5th floor & got all over our kitchen. I saw a line stretching back to the ground climbing all the way up the outside wall. The walls were whitewashed so it was easy to see the line. There must have been 1,000s of them! They were smaller than your average black ant. That was the only time we ever saw them! We lived in that flat 11 years.

Pepperpot - did you look for the 'ant stations'? They really do work - they're the next thing to a magic remedy, honest!

thanks spritzhenry, i've just ordered some organic control, from plantsbypost, and going to GC tomorrow, could not go today, 11/4 its hubbys birthday, and we went to the NEC gadget show, So can't wait to go and have a look. so again i would say thankyou, all very much for your advise.xx

Let us know if it works, won't you.

Yes i will spritzhenry.:o))