Placing pots on the ground

Dedekind

Hello,

I have a rather silly question.. I have a couple of potted plants that I want to put in a soil border (among other plants which are in the ground). The issue -- maybe not an issue -- is that if I put the pot right in the ground, then a whole bunch of red ants and white eggs appear at the bottom of the pot.

So first question: is that an issue?

Second question: if it is, can I do something about it, or I'm better off putting the pots in a paved section of the garden?

Thanks!

twopenny

Are they big red ants or the tiny ones?

I have the very small ones and they don't seem to be doing any harm nesting with the plants in the border.

In a pot they may tunnel and leave air around the roots leaving them to dry out and damaging the plant.

One suggestion is to put a layer of fleece in the bottom of the pot but it's too late for that so you could try fixing some closely on the bottom of the pot with some sort of glue that won't soften in water.

To get rid of the ones in there, if the pots are big enough get an ant trap and place near the bottom. Though that takes some time for them to spread the poison to the nest. Some ant powder puffed in the bottom also.

A natural way is to put citrus peal under the bottom of the pot but not sure this would stay potent for long enough unless you repeat. Crushed garlic may last longer.

Justagardener

Pots in borders always look great, don't worry about the ants!

Dedekind

Thanks for the suggestions. They are super tiny. They haven't been long there so I am not sure they managed to get inside the pot yet, hopefully not. I am not necessarily looking to get rid of ants completely, they are part of the environment after all. I just don't want the plants to be damaged

Would placing on top of bark chippings help?

[Deleted User]

Possibly, then you'll get woodlice !
I've done this and that's what happened here, it doesn't bother me though.

Davesnave

Ants like it dry. That's why they often nest under paving slabs. When you put a large pot in the border it's doing an umbrella job in that area and so the ants start nest building. If the compost  at the bottom of the pot is reasonably dry, they'll go into that as well.

Ants do little damage under most circumstances; some people just find them a nuisance. While they they may 'farm' aphids on the plants, the aphids have to be there in the first place.