Hi, I was just deadheading my sweet Williams when I saw an ant colony. There were regular and flying ants in there. I took off 6” if mulch and soli and it’s definitely a colony. I was going to move plants around in that bed as I need to plant a mum for the fall. Should I plant there or leave it be for the season? Will the colony come back next year?
Dear Gardener,
Thank you for your interesting question about ants in your garden.
Planting your mum in that area will be fine. That you scraped back the mulch and soil was an appropriate first step as the disturbance may cause some ants to leave reducing the population. In preparation for planting, you might consider repeating this soil disturbance on several alternate days. Soaking the ground will also help reduce the population as ants prefer dry soil. Plant your mum, water well and replace the mulch around the plant but avoid its contact with the plants base in order to prevent disease. A 10-15 cm (4-6 inches) perimeter of bare soil around the mum’s base will be sufficient.
As part of the ant lifecycle, flying ants are the queens and kings of the colony. These young winged ants take to the air on their nuptial flight to mate. The kings then die while the queens lose their wings, search for a new nesting site, and begin a new colony with their fertilized eggs. It is likely that the ant colony will persistent.
Ants are mostly beneficial to the garden. Please see the article, Ants, for information on their benefit to the garden and their control methods. Regular watering in addition to mulch to help the soil retain moisture will discourage the ants.
For more information, please click on the following:
Growing Chrysanthemums in he Home Garden
In order to identify the species of ant in the colony, you may wish to use the following app: iNaturalist
Enjoy planting your fall mum.