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They are aerating the soil, eating the aphids and transporting lots of organic material underground. You're not renting to them, they are doing unpaid labor for you. Ants are basically predators, their presence indicates that there is prey for them.
Mulch where you can
Weed when you have to
Till if you must
It's all part of the plan.
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As ctdahle has already stated there is no good reason to "get rid" of ants. One of the things organic gardeners need to do is really understand insects and what their purpose in the envrionment is and ants are a major part of Ma Natures recycling machine. Ants do "herd" those Aphids, by taking them down into the nest where the Aphids are fed to the workers in the nest. Because many people do not grasp that Aphids reproduce prolifically and there are ever more Aphids to replace those the ants removed they think the ants put them on the plant, not so.
The sign of a good gardener is not a green thumb, it is brown knees.
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| Posts: 2181 | Location: Central Michigan along the Lakeshore | Registered: August 28, 2004 |  |
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On a newly transplanted tree aphids can make a tree lok stressed. If you want to reduce their numbers, use a strong spray of plain old water from your garden hose on the leaves. Do it daily till damage and aphid populations are reduced.
No this will not totally eliminate their population. No they will be back next year. In the passage of time (in the example of new transplants) your root system will get bigger and this whole aphid-ant thing will become less stressful to your tree.
If this is a fruiting tree I'd like you to look at a dormant oil spray for next spring application. There ARE orgaic versions available.
Scale insects are another common pest on fruit trees.
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