Are ants marching all over your precious peonies? Gardening experts recommend taking these key steps to help reduce ant numbers in your garden without damaging wildlife
Nothing heralds the start of summer better than a fresh bloom of peonies – however, gardeners need to watch out for ants. According to an expert, peonies are at high risk of being chewed away by the far-reaching insects.
Peonies are beloved for their delicate pink petals and subtly sweet fragrance. Unsurprisingly, they’ve often been associated with romance and innocence. But nothing will ruin that perception faster than discovering a nest of ants crawling all over their buds before they’ve even bloomed.
Ants love peony buds as they produce a sweet nectar that contains much-needed sugars. Once one ant discovers a peony, it releases a pheromone attracting the rest of its colony – hence why you may discover a swarm of ants quite suddenly.
READ MORE: Alan Titchmarsh reveals 1 garden creature you want to keep in soil – not slugs
It’s a common myth that ants actually help peonies to bloom, but this isn’t quite the case. Rather, they have a symbiotic relationship, where ants feed off the nectar and in return help protect the peony.
This is because ants help deter other pests from feasting on your precious blooms, like aphids and caterpillars. They patrol the blooms like a squadron, making them fabulous flower-protectors.
So, what’s the problem? Well, while ants are unlikely to harm your peonies directly, experts from DIY Everywhere caution that left unchecked, ants can spread and cause problems in other parts of your garden.
Ants like to dig colonies deep into the soil. This can damage plant roots, causing other plants to become dehydrated. They can also accidentally bury low-lying plants with their soil mounds.
If you want to reduce the amount of ants crawling over your peony buds, then it’s best to take a balanced approach. After all, your peonies appreciate having them around.
One of the best ways to reduce the number of ants in your garden is to simply remove them in a gentle manner. DIY Everywhere recommends using “a soft brush or by spraying them with a gentle stream of water” to avoid damaging the ants or petals.
You can also use natural repellents, like cinnamon or mint. Mint is also great at repelling rats, if they also pose a problem in your garden. Meanwhile, cinnamon can help deter foxes.
Of course, it’s vital to keep your garden as clean as possible. This means removing debris like fallen twigs or leaves, which can otherwise be used as a habitat by ants.
Ants aren’t the only bugs who help protect peonies. Encouraging the proliferation of ladybirds and lacewings can also aid in controlling pest populations, without the need for ants.
But be careful not to resort to pesticides, as these can pose a huge risk to ecosystem. DIY Everywhere warns: “These chemicals can disrupt the natural balance and negatively impact beneficial insects and soil health.”