noobthumb - Hi - I hate to say this, but "welcome to the ant-capital of the world - zone 10 to be exact." Most likely, they are Argentine types, but there are several kinds to deal with. Some seem to prefer sweet stuff. Later in this season, they are attracted to protein-like dead flies you swatted in the living room, for example. In most old houses, they are thoroughly entrenched in and around the foundation - making easy access to the house - depending upon the weather. They, however, don't seem to bother tree roots, but do carry aphis - to suck juices from the tree leaves, which they "milk" and carry to their burrows. My main method of attack, is to spray around the foundation of the house sparingly, but unless you want to live in a constant cloud of insecticide spray, it is best to try to live with them. Some bleach cleansers may help discourage them inside, and a mixture of honey and boric acid in a butter container outside, may be of some use. (ratio of 9 tsp honey/1 tsp boric acid). This may be helpful at base of trees. The butter container has holes made about an inch from bottom to fascilitate entry. About peach trees in zone 10. I planted 2 already - one is a Bonanza dwarf - low chill, the other is a Florida Prince. The Bonanza had quite a few nice fruit - close to Elberta taste-wise, the Prince is just now leafing out. I'm thinking it hasn't been too happy with our cold wet winter/spring so far. Sorry about those ants - wish they didn't like it here - but with our mild winters, they just don't have a lot to keep their numbers in check. Bejay

It's obvious to me that the people who claim ants do not kill trees have absolutely no experience with fire ants or any knowledge of them....I've noticed they are all from more northern states than Florida. Yes, certain ants will kill trees. Fire ants kill trees and shrubs. They are a horrible scourage here and were imported from Brazil in the early 1900's into Pensacola via cargo ships. They are one of the most miserable creatures on earth, and a prime example of how careless importation of foreign species is so disruptive to another area. In Brazil there is a fly that keeps the fire ants in check there, and then other birds and animals that keep the flies in check, and so on. Here, our native species do not know what to do with them, and they have flourished and gotten out of control. This is all information given to me by our local extension office. They have become so bad since the last tropical storm on our property, (and other properties in our area that did not flood), that I can't garden or walk to my clotheslines without being bitten. The bites are horrible. They burn, sting, and itch all at the same time, and then the bite forms a nasty pustule. Imagine having 50 bites. Imagine a tree or shrub dealing with them. We are having our farmer's co-op come to treat our whole 10 acres. They are not just present at the mounds. They scout all over the place. Our property did not flood, unlike many unlucky people in my area, so the fire ants have migrated to properties that stayed dry. They literall float mounds of themselves on top of flooded areas. I saw it with my own eyes. They have killed 7 rose bushes on fortuniana root stock, 5 citrus trees, and several of my native holly trees so far since the storm. They eat the roots and they bore up into the trunks of the trees. Once established into and near the trees they are almost impossible to get rid of. I've tried everything, including drenches. I am going to have my husband pull them with the tractor and burn them. Since the roots are so damaged I could actually easily remove them with a shovel, but I won't go near them any more. In addition to all of this it appears that they have displaced many of our native ants, who do not bite, and whom are important to the balance of our ecology. They've even appeared to have eaten all our earthworms. I can't find any in my composted areas. So, unfortunately, we have to "nuke" our whole property and then try to introduce the beneficials back in. So yes, ants may have killed the original poster's tree.

if you see ants.. search for aphids .. on the underside of the leaves.. and report back.. ken

I contacted the nursery last night, but I haven't heard from them yet. If you don't look at the ants or the bottom 4 or 5 inches of the tree, it looks pretty healthy. It seems to be spreading out. The leaves look healthy. The tree we purchased was about 8 feet tall. The bark at the bottom had a darker ring, like wet bark, from the cracked area down. That was there upon delivery. Unfortunately it was drizzling pretty hard, and they were in their truck before I got out there. It looked as though the nursery had removed soil from the container before they brought it to the house...perhaps to lighten the load. I think that the cracked area used to be under soil. Is it something that could heal over time? The warranty on the tree is for 3 months as long as I don't do the list of things on their warranty to void it. As for the "root ball", the roots were spread out although their was still some soil around the core middle part where the trunk connected to the roots. What I meant by the root ball was just the roots. They weren't pot bound or left in a ball when it was planted. I just used the term incorrectly.