Ants in my Yellow Dog Wood Shrubs

Discussion in 'Garden Pest Management and Identification' started by pajoube, Sep 7, 2008.

  1. pajoube

    pajoube Member

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    Belgrade Montana
    This may have come prior but as a new member I am only just learning how to view.
    I have ants all over my dogwood shrubs. Going from the base to the leaves and then going underneath the leaves and destroying.
    What type of spray could I use or any other product? I have over 1000 of these plants along with other types.
    Any help would be appreciated.
    PJ
     
  2. dt-van

    dt-van Active Member 10 Years

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    Unless there are leafcutter ants in Montana, the ants themselves are probably not what is damaging your dogwoods. The ants are probably "farming aphids" on your shrubs in order to get the honydew. The ants carry the aphids to the plants and sometimes move them around to better sites. If that is the case you could try spraying the plants hard with water from a hose to dislodge most of the aphids from the top & undersides of the leaves. Do this 2 or 3 times a week or so apart. Then once the plant is dry you could try putting some kind of a sticky barrier a couple of inches wide like "Tanglefoot" (or perhaps anhydrous lanolin) on the base of the stems to catch the ants as they try to climb up. I'm not sure if ants can walk over such things without getting stuck or not.
    You could also try following the ants to find where their nest is, (probably underground) and destroying the main nest.
    It is pretty late in the season for deciduous plants so I certainly wouldn't bother using pesticide this year. If you keep a close eye on things next season you can probably control the problem with water spray or barriers per above before it gets bad enough to weaken the plants. If you do have to resort to pesticides, I would use a systemic pesticide that translocates rather than one where you have to come in contact with all the bugs, especially since you have so many plants.
     
  3. pajoube

    pajoube Member

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    Thank you or your help. I think you have hit the nail on the head.
    Paul
     

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