While working in the garden one of the most commonly observed insects are ants. There are many species of ants that inhabit all of zone 9 and they range in size from tiny to massive. The single most common question about ants in the garden is are they friends or are they foes?
Here at Zone9Garden.com we consider the majority of ants friends. For the most part the do not harm any plants in the garden and they are a pollinator of some plants. The only down side to ant, other than some of them can sting, is they can be aphid farmers.
What is an Aphid Farmer?
Aphids live on the underside of tender leaves from many garden plants. They live by sucking the moisture from the plant, eventually killing the host leaf. Ant will protect aphids from predators because the aphids produce sweet nectar that the ants love to eat.
So while the ants are protecting the aphids from natural predators, this is not all that bad. If a large colony of ants is noticed on a plant, that could be a sign that a colony of aphids have moved and efforts to remove the aphids can be taken.
So if you find ants in your garden, don’t kill them, let them work for you!
