Are Ants Harmful To Flower And Vegetable/herb Gardens?

Friday, December 18th, 2009 at 7:28 am

Most ants are not a threat to your garden. There are many many different speicies of ant, and they all have their own habits, and food sources. Leaf-cutter ants would be a problem, but I think they only occur in the tropics. I've read that Fire Ants can pose a problem for plants, but as they don't survive in my zone, so I don't know this first-hand.
Most of the time, ants in your garden will help more than hurt. The move enourmous amounts of soil and nutrients from the substrate up, making it available to the plants.
And some will kill some of the bugs that ARE a threat to your gadren.
So the answer to "Will ants hurt my garden?" may be "Depends on the kind"
Watch your plants - if they don't seem to mind the ants, it likely okay - they're either harmless, or possibly even beneficial. And if your plants are in distress, and ants are present - it may not be the ants causing it. If you have a plant infested with aphids, complete with misshapen leaves and buds, and there are ants present - the ants are there only for the aphids' honeydew. The aphids are causing the problem, and the ants are only there because the aphids are.
Personally, I have never had any vegetable, flower or herb that was damaged by ants. (But plenty of OTHER insects have been my garden's nemeses!!)