Protecting trees from ants »Which measures are sensible?

Ants on the tree indicate pest infestation

Ants are not interested in the tree itself, even if they sometimes take a fallen leaf with them as food or nibble on sweet fruit. Instead, the animals did Aphids discovered that they literally keep in colonies and milk their sweet excretions - the so-called "honeydew". This in turn represents a valuable source of carbohydrates for ants, which is why the animals are very keen to protect and protect the aphids. These are protected from predators and can then reproduce even better - which in turn is actually harmful to the tree.

Fight aphids - drive away ants

Now it is quite easy to get both the aphids and the ants out of the tree. You don't even need chemicals for this, you need the affected tree instead only regularly and at intervals of a few days with self-made nettle manure sharpen. This not only drives away the unwanted visitors, but also serves the tree as fertilizer. You can make nettle manure as follows:

• Cut about a kilogram of fresh nettles.
• Coarsely chop this up.
• Pour cold water over them, about 10 liters per kilogram.
• Put the container in a cool and dark place.
• Let the liquid manure there for at least a week.
• Stir daily.
• The brew is ready when it stinks.

By the way, it helps against the unpleasant smell, something Rock flour(€ 12.33 at Amazon *) to stir with. The broth is only used diluted in a ratio of 1 part liquid manure - 10 parts water.

What else you can do to combat the plague of ants - and when it is necessary

Sometimes, however, there are no aphids behind the numerous ants, but other causes. The animals like to settle in dead or diseased parts of the tree - for example because a Tree fungus causes the tissue there to die. With cuffs and glue rings that are attached around the trunk, you can keep the animals from visiting the tree.