Wood Chips as mulch vs. Ants

15 years ago

I'm considering mulching the paths in my veggie patch with wood chips. I'm in NH. What can you tell me about problems with ants, as DH seems to think that whenever he's heard anyone talking about having used WC, that they regret it because it brings in ants.

I usually have dry areas in my regular flower beds which tend to be perfect host areas for colonies of the smallish ants, but they don't seem to hurt anything and merely 'exist' in their little colonies. Course, if I accidentally dig one up while planting something, they let me know, and go into instant attack mode. (They aren't fire ants; we don't have those up here, but they are defensive little critters en masse!)

Thoughts?

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Comments (4)

digdirt2
15 years ago
Do you have other alternatives to use as mulch? Reason I ask is that unless these are permanent paths and never incorporated into the garden, wood chips honestly aren't that effective at either weed suppression, moisture control, or soil improvement while many other mulches can accomplish all 3.

There is also a bit of concern about the nitrogen demands they may place on the soil and surrounding plants as they decompose. Plus they tend to jam in the tiller. ;)

And yes they can be "ant-attractive". But then so can other mulches so I wouldn't rule them out just because of the ants, more for the other reasons mentioned.

The link below is to several other discussions on the pros and cons of using wood chips as a mulch in the vegetable garden in case you want to browse through them. Just scroll down to the posts with the blue borders.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Wood chip mulch discussions.
jeannie7
15 years ago
Where an area is soaked often, ants believe its not a good place to stick around. Wood chips make the perfect place to hide though. Its shady, its rotting, its cool and mostly is left alone so it is a good place to set up home.
This goes for ear wigs and other moist home lovers.
I don't think ants would put up with it long.

Try the boric acid solution. Two teaspoons boric acid, in a cup of boiling water that you add a cup of granulated sugar to.
Let it cool some.
Obtain a few small containers -- small margarine containers would be ideal--which you poke holes into at the sides near the bottom to let the ants come in.
Into it, place as many cotton balls as will fit after you soak them in the boric acid solution.
Put the lid on so that friendly insects are not harmed....bees, wasps and such.
Place the containers in where you see the ants or on their trails.
They go in....the sugar is the come on---the boric acid is the poison which they take back to queenie.
she dies, the colony dies.

Place as many as you believe necessary around the garden.

An alternate thing to try. Sprinkle baking soda around the area. It wont harm plants but when ants walk through it, they take it into their tummies.
Baking soda is just bicarbonate of soda---when moistened turns to carbon dioxide gas. Ants cant burp.
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Elisa, the premise of BTE is that tilling destroys the soil structure and bio life. Tilling removes the covering; the soil rapidly dries out and top soil erodes. The "magic" in the wood chips is it is a covering that first retains moisture, and secondly feeds the plants as they decompose. It's why a mulch of smaller nutrient rich branches with needles and leaves is necessary and not just chipped trunks or bark chips only. The fungi that develop in the wood chip mulch help feed the plants. The mulch develops a helper system of organisms and other plant life that assists your fruits and veggies. In turn, your plants feed them. If you till composted organic material into your main garden, I'd suggest another experiment. Set aside a small section of your MG (maybe as small as 5x10 feet) for no-till. Still don't use wood chips, but layer your organics on the top (composted manure, yard waste, etc). Paul is very specific that if you don't have wood chips, just use whatever organic materials you have. (You can even use rocks) The most important part is to create a covering and not mix it in. Layer on top. When I tilled, I had virtually no earthworm population. Now, by not tilling, I can't dig a 4 " planting hole anywhere without killing several earthworms. And my soil (mostly red clay) is always damp and soft I destroyed a small tiller in two seasons trying to break up the clay. I then rented bigger tillers that beat me up for 6-8 hours trying to a 12x40 garden in which one half barely produced b/c of the rock hard clay. And it was back just as hard in the fall as it was in the spring. So it wasn't getting easier with time. Now with the wood chips, that area stays moist and soft. Everything grows there and I save the expense of renting, tilling, and fighting the soil every season. The fact that you got 25% more production is huge. You can get that in your MG using BTE principles but without adding wood chips. Paul no longer adds wood chips to his main garden b/c of his difficulty in walking. He uses them everywhere else. But in his MG he uses compost from his chicken pen as the covering.
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Last year I scored a truckload of chips from a tree trimming service, and one of my neighbors thoughtfully stopped on his way by to mention that it shouldn't be used near the house, it's not treated like the stuff that can be bought. Being slightly cynical I guess, I figured if the hardware store I normally bought bulk mulch from had treated it they'd have made a big deal out of it as a selling point. So I used the free stuff pretty much everywhere. You reminded me of that though, so I did a quick search, the included link suggests that the stuff landscapers sell isn't treated either. My only concern was if the soft wood I got for free smelled tastier to pests than the hardwood barks that are supposed to be in bulk wood mulch. But again, I think what I get is probably mostly colored scrap lumber anyway. Also, I live in a rural area so we have a contract with an exterminator that checks regularly - I don't know if my wife would have been as keen on the free mulch otherwise. Here is a link that might be useful: 'Wood' This Mulch Attract Termites?
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In my personal experience, chipped leaves are an incredible soil amendment. I like your idea of the layers because the leaf mulch will serve to protect the soil from the wood mulch. By the time the leaf mulch has decomposed or been stolen by earthworms, the wood mulch will probably harmless. Do you know if the wood mulch is aged? I've seen 'fresh' woody mulch at a nursery that was steaming because it was still actively decomposing. When it was applied under shrubbery that had lilies planted underneath, the lilies did not thrive. That same mulch was applied underneath tomato plants the plants struggled until I pulled the mulch away from the plant. Do I need to say that you don't want to till wood mulch into the soil unless you don't want something to grow there? Good luck! Paul
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nckvilledudes
15 years ago
I have to disagree with Dave with regards to the supposed disadvantages of wood chips as mulch. I have used them extensively in my garden and they do suppress weeds, they do help keep moisture levels consistent, and they don't rob soil of nitrogen unless they are tilled into the soil. They do decompose quite nicely and do add tilth to the soil. Do they tend to attract ants? I would have to say yes, but their advantages totally outweigh any disadvantages in my experience.
Kimmsr
15 years ago
Ants are a major part of Ma Natures recycling machine and are not the pests that many of us have been taught all our lives. I realize this is a paradigm shift and difficult for many people to understand, but ants clean up after us. Wood chips, in my experience, do not attract more ants, slugs yes, than any other mulch. If there is an increase in your ant population it would be because what you used for mulch provided a place for the ants food to be, and ants eat a lot of different kinds of food.

Wood Chips as mulch vs. Ants

Comments (4)

digdirt2

jeannie7

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Kimmsr

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