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redfrock

Ants ... oh and compost too!

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Sorry if these questions have been asked before!

 

Firstly, is it normal for a compost bin to be riddled with ants? We opened the door yesterday to see how things were progressing and the ants literally swarmed out :o and continued to do so, climbing all over the outside of the bin.

 

Secondly, is it possible for a garden to be one big ants' nest? I'm honestly not exaggerating .... Our garden is 85ft x 45ft. There are ants everywhere. if you leave anything down for more than a couple of days you will find a swarm of ants and eggs under it. I left the girls' s"Ooops, word censored!"s bowl down on the lawn for two days (it's a large plastic dog bowl) and when I lifted it there was a mound of soil - again a nest. Every where you dig you find one - no matter where you are on the lawn. I am always bitten when I am out there (they are red ants :evil: ) and a few days ago I sat on the lawn to watch the GPs in their run and rapidly knew the meaning of the phrase ants in your pants :oops::o:cry: there were dozens running up my legs - they took ages to get off and left me scratching for hours afterwards.

 

This is our first summer (if you can call it that :lol: ) at this house and I really love the place but the ants are driving me spare :(

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Claire, we have had a terrible ant problem in the garden this year too.

Thankfully not in the house yet - but we have had them in here before & it was a nightmare.

 

I dug up all my french beans yesterday as they hadn't thrived, & when I pulled out the bean wigwam I found the entire pot it was in was one big ants nest :shock:

 

They are horrid, aren't they?3

Just thinking about them makes me itch!

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I think my garden is one big ants nest too :roll: I have mainly black ants, and they are mad. Some red ones too.

 

I have had them in the house, just the kitchen and laundry as these rooms have a concrete floor. I hope the new floor tiles which extend up the wall as skirting will keep them at bay :? They were running riot under the laminate :evil:

 

Has anyone else noticed the queen flying ants are out and about today? My garden is covered with them and so is the pavement out the front.

 

sorry don't know what to suggest about the ants, they are really annoying :evil:

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How awful, Claire.

 

We live in Canterbury, or at least a few miles away, and we don't have a problem with ants at all - I wonder is there something specific in the soil that attracts them to your garden - are your neighbours affected?

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I believe that ants, while in moderate amounts don't do harm in the garden, are death to wormeries :( - read this somewhere.

 

I'm not sure how they affect compost, presumably they are helping because they eat stuff, tunnel through it and probably aerate it a bit - but then what about the worms in there :?

 

I don't mind a few in the garden but when they find a route into the house I rush for the Nippon; can't bear finding them on the worktops, in the cat bowl etc. I think I heard someone on the forum who used Diatom powder and found it killed ants; worth a try, because you know it won't do your chooks any harm. It really sounds as if you're over-run with them, you'll never destroy all of them so it might just reduce the population to manageable proportions?

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Thanks Olly, you just reminded me that ants don't like talcum powder. I was given some as an emergency measure and it got rid of them. Not sure if it was the talc or the fact it was Avon talc so they all went off smelling like a ta*ts boudoir :lol:

 

Ah I'll try that one - I've been using my barrier red mite powder - very expensive ant powder :lol:

 

I'm in Herne Bay Lynn - are you near by? We have very heavy clay soil here - very different to the chalk soil I had at Westgate-on-Sea!

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We had this same problem last year, my dad threw some talcum powder down (none harmful to everything else) and a week later they were gone!

 

My dad's trying to turn our garden into an allotment for himself now, so without the ants to get on his nerves he can do as he wishes!

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My garden is one giant ants nest too and it's a constant battle killing them off. They are winning unfortunately. I think I should have shares in nippon and all the other antkillers on the market.

 

How will the chickens cope with all the ants that exist in my garden?

 

I dread bringing my first girls home and a few days later finding them tormented by ants all over them.

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That's a great tip about talc thank you :D I didn't know that it worked on ants, as we have lots of nests, and they get into plantpots etc. too :evil: and by the time I've noticed the plant failing to grow it's too late :(

 

Ant population explosion :shock: something else to blame on the weather :lol:

 

karen x

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Hi - I'm in West Sussex and we have a horrible problem with ants too - they are everywhere. You only have to stand for a couple of minutes in the garden and they swarm up your legs and bite! Must look quite hilarious to see us flapping around in the garden in hysterics, slapping our legs and stamping around.

 

We have also had real problems with slugs this year too! It's like a horror movie at night - if you shine a torch on the lawn, it is glistening with horrible bodies (literally hundreds upon hundreds of them) - they are even sliming their way up our windows at night.

 

It's an ant/slug takeover bid and I say bring on the talc guns and powder them into submission!

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There are loads of ants and spiders this year and I hate them both!

 

Ants can be kept away/destroyed by Diatom, talc or a line of salt, but Nippon will kill the nest for good. You can keep them out of your wormery by putting each leg of the wormery in a dish of water.

 

I have a line of Diatom by the front door after I noticed them in the porch. :?

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