How to Protect Your Garden Beds from Ants

Ants have a bad habit of showing up where they're unwanted and unexpected. Sometimes that's right in the middle of a long-anticipated backyard picnic. But more often, it's in the middle of your garden. You've invested all that TLC into your plants, then ant colonies move in — disrupting your peaceful garden time and damaging your plants in the process.

Seeing a few ants in your garden shouldn't worry you. In fact, the beneficial insects and birds that live there probably appreciate the snack. But when your garden is home to lots of ants, it's usually a sign of bigger issues. Getting straight to the root of the problem can help you control garden ants and restore your garden's balance.

• Signs of Garden Ant Problems

• Ways Ants Damage Garden Plants

• How to Control Ants in Your Garden

Ants help protect aphids and other plant-damaging insect pests.

Signs of Garden Ant Problems 

One of the first clues your garden has too many ants is a mass of anthills around your garden plants and paths. You may see plants wilting for no obvious reason — until you see a small mound of soil and active ants right in the midst of its stems. When that plant is a tender seedling, it may not stand a chance. But even well-established plants can suffer when ant populations get out of hand.

When ants move up into plant flowers and foliage, their damage becomes more visible, and you want to take a much closer look. Zero in on tender new growth in leaves and stems. Oftentimes, you'll find another destructive garden pest is also at work.

Aphids and scale insects both feed on plants and then produce a sticky substance called honeydew that ants love to eat. Ants go as far as protecting aphids from predators, which would normally keep these pests in check. The more ants you have, the greater the damage overall.

Another sign that ants in your garden are out of hand happens when you're gathering a bouquet or pulling a few garden weeds. You look down at your gloves — or your ankles — and discover you're being overrun by ants. That can be scary for little ones who enjoy garden time with you.

Most common garden ants don't bite, but they can, and sometimes they do. Sometimes they just hitch a ride and come indoors on you.

Ants can harm plants in many ways, including cutting leaves.

Ways Ants Damage Garden Plants

Ants attack plants in all types of gardens, from traditional in-ground gardens and raised garden beds to container gardens and hanging baskets swaying in the breeze. If there's a path to the plant, ants can find it. Once they do, no plant is exempt from these pests and their damage.

Given the opportunity, ants affect edible plants in fruit and vegetable gardens, flowering annuals and perennials, rose bushes, ornamental garden shrubs and more. They'll even haul away your newly planted vegetable garden seeds.

When ants take up residence in a plant's root zone, especially in confined spaces like containers, damage can be extensive. Ants can directly harm the root ball itself or disturb the balance underground between the air, soil and water that plants need.

When that happens, roots can get dehydrated, and plants grow stressed. Some types of ants, such as leafcutter ants, steal large pieces of leaves, leaving severely damaged plants behind.

When plants are damaged or stressed, they're more vulnerable to garden diseases like powdery mildew or black spot, as well as garden pests, including aphids and scale. Once ants start feeding on honeydew, they protect their source at all costs. They'll even move aphids to new parts of the plant or new parts of your garden so these pests can keep eating plants and making honeydew.

You can protect edible and ornamental plants against unwelcome ants.

How to Control Ants in Your Garden

The good news is ants are easy to control when you have the right products in hand. With GardenTech® brand Sevin® garden insecticides, you can control unwanted pests in all your gardens.

For edible and ornamental/flower gardens

Sevin Garden Perimeter Insect Killer Granules works two ways. First, it kills existing listed pests above and below the surface, and then it keeps working to prevent new infestations for up to three months. These easy-to-use granules make it simple to control ants⁺ in fruit and vegetable gardens, on ornamental plants and shrubs — even in edible landscapes where flowers, groundcovers and edibles mix.

Use Sevin Garden Perimeter Insect Killer Granules as a preventative before you plant your garden, or use it to treat active pest problems as they come up. Just use the convenient shaker to apply the granules as instructed on the product label. You can kill ants⁺ and more than 100 other listed insect pests by contact — including aphids, scales, cutworms, fleas and beetles — without harming plants or blooms.€¡  

When treating edible plants, always follow label guidelines for preharvest intervals (PHIs). That's the length of time to wait between your application and your harvest. As an example, allow at least one day between treating your tomato plants with Sevin Garden Perimeter Insect Killer Granules and picking them. But allow three days for your zucchini squash and seven days for your bell peppers.

For non-edible ornamental/flower gardens

For ornamental gardens, turn to Sevin 3-in-1 Insect, Mite & Disease Control Flower and Shrub Ready To Spray. This fast-acting spray prevents and kills listed diseases, insects and mites on contact. You can control outdoor ants⁺⁺ plus other listed pests, including armyworms, cutworms, fleas, mites and spittlebugs.

Plus, you can prevent and control common garden fungal diseases often associated with stressed plants for up to two weeks, including rust, powdery mildew, scab, blights, mold and black spot. Simply connect the product container to a regular garden hose. The easy-to-use, ready-to-spray container automatically measures and mixes the rain-proof formula for you as you spray.

When ants disrupt your garden time or threaten the beauty of your favorite plants or veggies, GardenTech and Sevin brands are ready to step in. We've helped generations of garden lovers experience the joys of gardens and share a love of gardening with new generations. We're here for you, too.

 ⁺ except Carpenter and Pharaoh Ants

⁺⁺ controls Argentine, Southern, Field, Alleghany mound, Florida carpenter, Honey, Pavement, Nuisance and Crazy Ants

€¡WHEN USED AS DIRECTED

Always read product labels thoroughly and follow instructions, including guidelines for listed plants and pests, application frequencies and pre-harvest intervals (PHIs) for edible crops.