I don't know. I've read from several sources that Zoysia is pretty disease-resistant. Sandy Baker writes in "The Complete Guide to Organic Lawn Care": "Zoysia is a slow-growing, thick grass and one of the only warm-weather grasses that does well in the south and also further north in some cool season and transitional areas. It requires less mowing than some of the faster-growing grasses such as St. Augustine and Bermuda and tolerates foot traffic well. It is drought tolerant and disease and insect resistant. Zoysia grass prefers growing in temperatures between 80 and 90 degrees, and it is considered the most cold tolerant of all warm-season grasses." "It prefers sun, but it is fairly shade tolearant and can grow in rocky, sandy, or poor soils with a pH between 5.8 and 7.5. [Tukey lists pH between 6.2 and 7.2.] Once the lawn is established, zoysia will need little water. It is best to wait until the blades of grass wilt slightly and then provide the lawn with 3/4 inch water. Watering in this way will help the grass become more drought tolerant and will help the plant develop a deep root system..."[End quote] [I think that kind of watering helps most grasses.] My zoysia has never had a disease problem. David Mellor writes in "The Lawn Bible" that zoysia's [quote] "thick, dense turf is drought resistant and can withstand wear well..." He also says zoysia "forms a beautiful...lawn." I can attest to that. You can tell I love my zoysia :-) Paul Tukey writes in the "Organic Lawn Care Manual": "From Florida north to Maryland, zoysia is one of the better grasses on the market, far more attractive than St. Ausgustine, carpet, or centipede grass. North of Maryland, however, the grass turns brown for about six months of the year; we're spoiled in that regard up north. When there's no snow on the ground, we expect our lawns to be green except between January and March." Tukey goes on to write: "The good news is that zoysia lawns are now possible from seed. The cultivar 'Companion' [now known as 'Compadre' because of a trademark issue] germinates readily and then spreads by rhizomes and stolons to fill in nicely, much more quickly than some early zoysia cultivars. Seeding brings the cost of a zoysia lawn more in line with Bermuda grass and makes it less expensive than a sodded or plugged St. Augustine lawn, so zoysia should become more common in the next decade." Tukey goes on to say: "It's fairly disease and insect resistant, and its growth habit helps it outcompete many weeds." By the way, "Zenith" is another name of a Zoysia variety that can be seeded. So, Zenith and Compadre if you don't want to sod. From what I've read online, Bermuda, especially the hybrid Bermuda grasses, might have more of a disease problem :-P

I successfully rid my yard of them by using the following: 2 oz of Garrett Juice (sold in Dallas, it's mostly molasses from the smell) and 2 oz of orange oil to 1 gallon of water. Pour it on the mound, kind of slowly so that it doesn't run off but seeps into the holes of the colony. Use the water to keep the keep the ants from coming to you. Within a few hours you can tell if there's activity on the mound. Slow, dying ants aren't a problem, but vigorous activity is. Drench it again. Big mounds might take a third application. Caveats: orange oil will kill plant roots, so don't use more than 2 oz on any one spot. Change the mixture to only 1 oz of orange oil if you think you will need more than 1 application. Also, big colonies will start other mounds quickly, so watch for them and treat sooner rather later. Eventually, you will get control--I did and haven't had a problem for 3 years. There is usually 1 attempt to start a colony each spring, but after treating it, nothing else. I used boiling water a couple of times and it does work, but it is hard to carry boiling water and it kills the plant roots. Diatomeceous earth (not for swimming pool use but for garden use) will kill them (and other bugs, too, good or bad), but it takes a really long time to get the whole colony. You can shovel the colony into a bucket and then kill them however you like. Dust the shovel handle and the bucket rim with baby powder--the ants can't crawl through it. Hope this helps!!

I think they dislike mints and tansy planted around the house. Ecosmart worked well for me. I have a cat and I refuse to spray chemicals especially in the kitchen. The bait to get to feed and kill the queen is called Terro. It is a liquid chemical that they drink and take back to the queen.You put a tiny amount on a piece of foil ( Ifind that is easier for the ants to walk on then the cardboard pieces that come on the back of the package. We get ants every spring. I only use it on the kitchen window sill or behind the kitchen sink. It works in about 3 days. Also I heard that they don't like hot peppers. Maybe you could put that around the mounds. I had an old lady friend that would pour boiling water on the mounds. That will kill some of them and just get them to move. Also they were biting my feet while I was sitting at the computer. I sprinkled baby powder down and that discouraged them. I had to reapply a few times and tehn they gave up. Good luck!

It really depends on what type of ants they are. If you live in the south, they are probably fire ants and would be a problem. Many people use some type of bait such as amdro to kill the ants. Nothing is really labelled for vegetable gardens that I know of, If you live up North or on the west coast you will not have fire ants.