Ants under the patio

[theanxiousgardener]

There is a huge ants' nest under most of our patio. They pop up anywhere there is a big enough crack between slabs, often in quite some numbers. They are black ants so there is no risk of being stung and there is no sign of any at all in the house, so they don't really bother me day to day.
We try to garden organically and have a lot of visiting bird and other animal life so I hate the idea of dousing the whole patio with insecticide, but I do worry a bit that they're going to undermine the patio with all their digging. Is this likely? Anyone got any experience of this?

No advice as we have the same problem!
We had numerous ant hills on our lawn a couple of years ago, which was then all dug up to be levelled. New turf (which was bloomin expensive) last year, looked lovely.

More bloody ant hills this year! I could cry.

I have two massive nests in the walls/door frame/patio of my conservatory - I KNOW they have just as much right to live as I do but am very concerned about the damage they are doing to my bricks so have doused the whole area in ant powder.

The nippon gel seemed to work for me , they eat it then take in back to nest to feed the others, it takes a long time so need to be patient, but it did work for me.

just place it where they like to walk or next to where they come out.

I remember my Nan used to sort this very quickly with a couple of kettles of boiling water poured around the slabs. Might sound savage but it’s instant and more humane than poison/slow death and is extremely effective.

Yes, the same under our block paved drive, I'm worried that it will start to collapse seeing the amount of sand they are digging out. I hate using any sort of insecticide but think I might have to try the nippon.

We have the same problem and have huge gaps between the patio slabs. It's all being relaid in the next few months and there won't be any place for them to get though then. I can put up with them in the grass.

This makes me want to sob. The poor ants weren't going to harm your patio.

I really despair. We humans deserve what is coming at us (and soon) for fucking up the planet for all other species.

We lifted our patio and there where thousands of ants and eggs, it was amazing to see them carry the eggs to safety deeper into the ground they had the whole area cleared in an hour.
I could never kill them as they work so hard looking after each other.
live and let live unless they are coming into your house they can be really beneficial in the garden.

@Letsrunabath We lifted our patio stones at the weekend and found the same. I'd never seen ant eggs before and was really surprised how big they were. It was amazing how quickly they cleared the area. I don't like ants (we seem to have millions of them, they're everywhere I look) but I didn't know how to deal with them so just put the stones back down and left it for now.

This makes me want to sob. The poor ants weren't going to harm your patio.

I really despair. We humans deserve what is coming at us (and soon) for fucking up the planet for all other species.

please tell me this was a joke ? 🙄

Ants are very clever structural engineers, they are not going to collapse your patio.
Leave them be.

Exactly. And if they do enter the house they likely are just looking for water. Make sure there's a moisture source outdoors & they won't bother you.

KosherDill I don't bother about the ants on the patio but I DO bother about the ones that are burrowing through the brickwork and woodwork on the conservatory - they leave deposits of sandy like material inside and out. They can have the patio with pleasure and the areas under the grass but leave the walls and door frames alone! That's where the ant powder went.

You want Ant Stop Bait Station.

You can use chalk to create a barrier without using toxins.

There is no chance the ants will do any damage to the patio they only make little tunnels. Ants like to be close to the surface where it’s warm from the sun ( under patios,paths, walls) seen quite a few in planters too.

the problem is if you leave them the colony will only grow in size and before long you will have them crawling on you and your food while you sit on the patio. There is also the chance they will spread into the house, if the patio is near the house. If they are a long way from the house then I’d leave them but if they are close to it you need to deal with them .

ants will also bite , I knocked a garden wall down once and there were thousands of them in it they were all over the bottom of my legs biting me 🤣

When I was a child, I would feed our patio ants with tiny pieces of meat, and watch them scurrying away with the food! They were so fascinating. When DM found out, she wasn't impressed!

There is no chance the ants will do any damage to the patio they only make little tunnels

But they dig up huge amounts of sand and soil - so am not convinced. I have to sweep every single day.

I am having the same issue too.

I have fought with the ants over the years, and managed to eradicate them a few years ago, but this year, oh my goodness, there are mounds of dust between almost every intersection of patio slabs. Never seen this before. And the slabs are getting shaky, so I really don't agree that there is no damage being done underneath.

The powder has not worked at all this time

@Glittertwins I was wondering if we took up the slabs in autumn, would the hives/nests be dead and could then be removed?

No idea, but they're now under rather a lot of hard core!