A shimmering blue damselfly lands gracefully on the winding stems of an orange balm plant to deliver a sparkling morning greeting. This jewel-like creature floats like a being from an ethereal realm, expertly navigating between the delicate leaves of lavandula multifidia and the newly emerging leaves of a fragrant tea rose seedling. A pleasantly cool breeze carries the sound of the kiskadee and blue tanager through mists that melt into a pale gold light as they glide in silence across a valley.
Though it sounds like a haven of tranquility now, just a day prior it was complete mayhem in the garden. During my early morning check of the plants I discovered that, whatever had been munching on my jasmine plants, had been having an absolute field day with some of my roses. Huge chunks were missing from the leaves and a few of them had been completely stripped of all their leaves.
I spotted one of culprits flying around a jasmine plant and taking a bite out of a leaf, completely oblivious to the devastation it was causing (to the plants and my heart!) It was a leaf-cutter ant, otherwise known as the Bachac. After the total shock of seeing what these creatures had done to my beautiful plant companions in one night (time really did stand still for a moment), it was time to spring into action and fight back.
[Aside: It’s impressive how much vegetation these ants can get through in such a short space of time (they use the leaves to grow fungus, which they eat). I’ve been reading about the systems and hierarchies that exist within a colony and they’re extremely sophisticated. It’s quite remarkable how they work together to ensure the survival of the colony. Not so remarkable that I’ll leave them to destroy my garden though!]
This is the first time I’ve had a problem with leaf-cutter ants (I’ve been cultivating my container garden on a balcony for just under a year) and I didn’t have any bait so I turned to the wonders of the internet to look for natural alternatives to protect the plants. This is what my research turned up:
Neem Oil
I’ve been using neem oil mixed with a little washing-up liquid routinely as a pesticide for about a month and it’s been helping to keep white flies and spider mites under control. Apparently neem oil repels the ants as it makes the leaves taste horrible, but I still found some to damage to leaves that I’ve been spraying with the mixture. I’m thinking it might be because the mixture is too dilute and I wasn’t spraying daily. I’ll try increasing the concentration a little and the frequency of application to see what effect that has
Vinegar
Some of the articles I’ve read recommend using a mixture of vinegar and water as the scent acts as a repellent. I sprayed a strong solution of vinegar on the ground, let it dry and then sprayed a solution of neem oil a few hours later as a backup. This was probably a bit OTT but I wasn’t taking any chances. Since then I’ve been spraying vinegar on the ground every evening.
Insecticides
One of the employees who works in the compound I’m staying in was kind enough to find some bait and leave a small amount around the wall they’ve been using to access my plants and near the nest. I’ve been researching diatomaceous earth as it’s pet friendly and I’d prefer to use that rather than chemical insecticides if possible.
Clearing Space
The garden has been getting a bit overcrowded, which is probably why I didn’t see early signs of damage or any ants wandering around. I’ve been meaning to tidy it up for a while now but other responsibilities (I’m the caregiver for an elderly family member, a custodian for a destined companion dog, hold responsibility for the creation of new work and the routine care of my plants including watering, fertilising and pruning) pushed a garden tidy up a little lower down the priority list. The arrival of the leaf-cutters pushed it back up the priority list so, in between my other responsibilities, I cleared more space in the garden by removing plants, dead leaves and debris. I can now inspect my plants much more easily and will be able to spot when an infestation and/or damage is happening much earlier.
Moving Plants Indoors
As a precaution I have been taking the plants indoors at night and then taking them out again in the morning as I’ve only seen the ants appear at night. It’s time consuming but the plants have been safe so far. Hopefully I’ll be able to leave them out at night again soon.
Culinary Herbs
I noticed that the ants left all the culinary herbs alone (I’ve got rosemary, mint, sweet marjoram, basil, tarragon, oregano and parsley). I’ve placed them around the edge of the balcony in the hopes that their scent might help to deter the ants and form a protective barrier. Interestingly, they also left the leaves of my dianthus plants alone so I’ve left them near the edge of the balcony too.
So far (a week later) I haven’t found any more damage and I haven’t seen any more ants – hooray! I’m remaining vigilant and have scaled down the types and numbers of plants I have so that I can focus on giving the best care to the ones that remain.
It is hugely inspiring to see that most of the plants that suffered damage are already starting to grow new leaves (so I like to look at this event as a sort of intensive, bootcamp-type pruning experience – one that I don’t want to happen again though!)
I recognise that it is my responsibility to honour and care for the plants that have been entrusted to me to the best of my ability, and I will work wholeheartedly to achieve this. In return, I have received the gift of their precious beauty that lifts the heart and spirit in immeasurable ways.