Ants

[pjh75]

Since buds have started to appear on my cherry tree I have noticed that there are ants crawling over them. Is there an organic way of getting rid of them? I don't think that my current method (blowing or flicking them off) will be a long term solution.

[nerobot]

I had a young apple tree that was destroyed by ants Not sure what they did to it though.

[rustylady]

It won't pjh, certainly not unless you can sit there 24/7 blowing or flicking them off. They're looking for (or possibly farming) aphids. Not sure whether you would class it as organic, but a spray of diluted washing up liquid might do the trick.

[Two_Sheds]

Ants won't do any harm, so you don't need to 'control' them as such. As RL says above, they're farming aphids: squish off the aphids with your fingers and the ants will go away too. In addition, hang up some fat balls to attract blue tits, which will eat the aphids while they're there.

[poply]

Ants

Hi all new kid on the block??? My ants have infiltrated my plastic compost bin apart from the rest of the garden will they have any adverse effect???

[pjh75]

Ants won't do any harm, so you don't need to 'control' them as such.

That's good to know, I thought they munched through things. Thanks