Ants in my P*ants!!!

I like the planting Spritz, the colours are great.

As for ants .... i have a few mounds here, what makes them decide on a place to live ??
I'll be watching for replies to your question.

I think it helps if its off the ground, can you put the pot on some of those little pot raiser upper things (LOL) or a couple of bricks?

Your newly potted plants look just lovely Spritz,sorry no idea how to get rid of them thankfully i have never had them,hopefully they wont return:~)))))

Forgot to say the plants look lovely together! :o)

Love your new planting Spritz :) Not sure if this helps with ants, but if I'm planting up a container, I cut up a pair of old tights and stretch a piece of fabric over the drainage hole in the pot, to stop vine weevil getting in, and weigh it down with the crocks. It may deter ants, I dunno...just a thought :)

That's a good tip Di, i'll remember that.

Out of adversity beauty will triumph, Spritz. The new planting is lovely.

I've had two pots full of ants so far this year and a huge nest in a compost bin. Fortunately I found them in the pots before it became a terminal situation but there do seem to be huge numbers of ants around this year.

Thanks, Di - I wish I'd asked before I planted this all up! I'll remember that for the next container planting I do, though!.

I do have all my containers on pot feet - including this one! So that isn't the answer, I'm afraid, Skilla. Thanks, though...

Yes, Wagger - I agree - I've had more nests in and around the lawns, this year! How DO do they choose where to nest?

this is beautiful really really lovely
sorry no idea on ants, think If they decide to do something somewhere not much will stop them

bit like politicians!!

x x x

I enjoyed your blog Spritz and the new plants look great. The first 2 weeks in August seem to be the time when flying ants appear too. I dont think you can stop the little devils .... how on earth do they survive the watering!

Nice blog the new pot looks lovely

Hi Spritz, Thats a beauty all right, I really like the dark colours (as you know) Lol
The only way I have found to get rid of ants, without resorting to chemicals, is to disrupt the nest (by digging into it) and then liberal amounts of boiling water straight from the kettle.
Harsh? very, does it work? absolutely.
Don't forget that this time of year the 'flying' ants will be leaving the nests and setting up 'home' where ever they feel inclined! ! !
I had a very bad experience about 5 years ago when we were woken about 5 am by Holly screaming, she was about 6 months old at the time, when we got into her room we found her literally covered in ants. They were in her ears, her eyes and anywhere else you care to imagine. We called the council 'bug catcher', after we had rescued her obviously, and he explained this idea to me as the only non toxic way to deal with them.
He also charged me £60 for the privalage! ! !

The trouble is, that where they have been nesting, if I pour boiling water on them, the grass or plants will also die...they don't helpfully choose a bare patch!

Poor Holly! Lucky she was so young - I don't expect it's put her off ants. If they charged that back then, what on earth is the charge now, Ian??

it looks lovely Spritz.

Love the new planting Spritz.....don't know about the ants though {shock horror}....haven't come across any......as yet....

I've no idea B. the kettle is cheaper.
I guess just by disturbing the nest enough they will get the idea and leave, especially if you keep going back to it.
Our local council has one of the highest counil tax rates in the country and the cost of repairs is rediculous.
When we moved in here, about 4 years ago, we had both outside doors open and the front door slammed shut and broke the glass. I rang them to come and repair it and was told I would have to pay! ! !
The repair man came and boarded it up? then the next day the same man came back and replaced the glass. I got charged a total of nearly £90 for it. Roughly half for boarding it up and the rest for him having to come out and replace the glass???? I did ask but they just said that was their policy and if I didn't pay they would send it to a debt collection agency! ! !

Unbelievable! Imagine charging that much just to tell you something!
Perth council wont deal with ants because the whole of Perth is a giant abnthill! Theyre a nightmare in summer!
I've had to go against all my beliefs & start killing them now.
I use Ian's method, because it's quick & effective. poisins kill them slowly.
BUT, Fantastic pot Spritz! The first version was lovely too.

Thanks, Madperth. I enjoyed it until the ants arrived...but it's nice to have a change, I must admit. :-)

Your new planted pot looks grear.

I'm glad you like it, Clarice. :-)

The new collection looks lovely.

You could try mixing Borax with icing sugar. I think it's one part Borax to 4 parts sugar. The idea is that the ants like the sugar and take the whole lot back to the nest where the Queen also eats it. When the borax is ingested with the sugar it kills the ants. It's supposed to take about 7 days. You put a little pile of the sugar mix somewhere close to, but not right on the nest. They'll find it and eat it.

Lovely planter by the way. Beautiful colours.

I would recommend the same as Gilli. That is what my sister used to do around the perimeter of the bedrooms when it was really bad out. They had some similar incident to Ian's with my nephew.
I really like the new arrangement. The first one was also lovely. You have a knack for arranging them, knowing what to put together. Well done.

Just to put a spanner in the works, Borax is very poisonous and adding it to icing sugar would, I think, be to much for Henry to bare. I'm sure you have already thought of this but I would hate anything to happen to your lovely big fellow.

Carol.

Yes, I thought that when I read this suggestion - Labs eat ANYTHING, and he would go for that mixture, for sure! I couldn't risk it, even by hiding it under something, I'm afraid.

Thanks Gilli and Mamagem, though - also for your lovely comments! :-)

She's been at my computer again. Ian
Carol that is :~))

She was absolutely right to do so, Ian! Anyway, is it only YOUR Computer??? LOL.

Look, if its a gadget then that means it automatically belongs to the bloke in the house (Until it goes wrong of course ! ! !) :~)) Lol

lovely planting as usual. i found flying ants emerging from the cracks between the top slabs of the pond. I just hope they have not excavated down to the liner.
I will try the borax sugar mix for them and see. Far to many ants around this year for my liking.

I have used Ian's method which definitely works in the right place. Also have used ant killer you can buy in an almost sealed flat container so that ants can get in and get the poison but animals cannot, called 'Antstop' I think. Worked OK but needed to do it again later on as they came back Both your planters look absolutely lovely (we would expect nothing else from you!)

Thanks, Lily! What a nice thing to say :-)

I reckon I'll have to slide an ant trap under the pot, as you suggest.

Sorry about your display Spritz, your new one is lovely.....as for ants we have millions on either side of the path, leading to the washing line, and I mean millions, after reading an article on ant behaviour I cannot bring myself to pour boiling water on them (used to years ago) so I just water them with cold water, and hope for the best, a million of them flew off a few days ago, but we still have many more left!! thats life...

It's nothing but the truth Barbara :o))

They're even worse when they're flying - I can't stand them!

I know they have a place...but I wish they'd leave my pots alone! I have problems too when I'm on hands and knees weeding the borders or edging, and suddenly get bitten! Then I find I've knelt on yet another ant-hill, and the ants don't like me on it!

No - I don't like the flying ones, either!

Can't you teach Henry to be an Anteater? Should be easy with a Lab, lol.

Ha - ha! He's bad enough as it is, Wagger! Were you around when he hoovered up some yew berries one day? THAT was scary!!!

love the new look pot spritz very pretty, not sure about ants other than hot water like ian, guess you were just unlucky that they choice your pot, looks great now :o))

Thanks, Sandra....:-)

Spritz, both arrangements was & is just lovely, I really enjoyed to look at both arrangements. I think U were right, just start all over again, but will remember Gilli recipe to get rid of those little suckers.

Well, there is no doubt about it Spritz.....you will have to get yourself an Aardvark. I'm sure Henry would love a friend to play with too. LOL.

Oooh!! What fun! Is that the same as an Anteater, Gilli? Henry and the animals could prance about on the lawn and snack on ants, couldn't they! LOL.

Hi there is a member of the mint family called "penny royal" (dont know the botanical name) which when you see ants nests they really detest it you can sprinkle on some leaves and they will move away - obviously ok in a pot but not much help for killing them. If I see some coming into my patio doors I put the leaves down and it seems to stop them.

Thanks - I'll find out what that is - I doubt if Henry would fancy eating it - unlike the sugar/borax mixture!

Lovely blog I enjoyed it all about the ants first Bamboo said on here that ants heard the aphids so they can get the sweet sap I think he said so if you see ants you will get aphids. There is a product which I have bought from Tesco also B&Q which are little plastic pots with ant killer in I have them to stop them comming into my house, you allow them to go into the pot they then take the poison back to the nest and kill the nest, instructions say place near nest. Also there are plants which deter ants if planted close to your pots Penny Royal is one and I think Tansy too, if place by your doors they will not enter your home either. hope this helps you.

Both versions are beautiful, but I do think I like the second one better...I should check my pots for ants..my geraniums are doing very poorly...but it might just be the heat...but I wonder if ants could have gotten in there...

I had this problem once before, Raquel - the ants DO disturb the roots and the plants don't thrive. So it could be ants in your pots!

Ants CAN be a major problem at times. When we lived in Spain, in a 5th floor flat, we had them climbing all the way up from the ground just to get into our kitchen! As the kitchen looked out onto an enormous interior patio & the walls of the building were painted white I was able to see a l o n g thin black line moving up & down the wall. They were very tiny ants as well! We got rid of them using the boiling water method but unfortunately we had to resort to a chemical spray as well.

Well back then we didn't think twice about killing off any insect that came into the house or that attacked my plants. We often used a chemical barrier spray around the doors & windows so that if they (insects of any kind) tried to get into the flat they had to cross the barrier which killed them off. Seems cruel now but back then we didn't think twice about it!

As I was writing this a "Daddy longlegs" flew into my computer screen. I shooed it away - no chemical sprays any longer - & closed the balcony door.

Last year my entire lawn was one massive ants nest and i tried using everything out there, i even did the boiling water and ruined half my lawn but a couple of days later they were back. I discovered something called Nemasys® No Ants which you mix with water and pour over your lawn, and it did the job. all ants nest disappeared and i got my lawn back. its a bit pricey but i would fully recommend it. Just paste the link below in to your web browser and take a look.

http://www.greengardener.co.uk/product.asp?id_pc=6&cat=1&id_product=123

i forgot to say the new arrangement looks lovely. i wish i had your know how on what looks good together.

Thank you, Womble!

An aardvark is similar to an anteater Spritz. They have big ears and a long snout which looks similar to a long pig's snout. Henry and an aardvark would get along a treat. If you get a female you could name it Henrietta! LOL

And why not?? lol.