I inadvertantly got a colony to move when I temporarily piled up a bunch of rocks I dug from the garden. A few weeks after piling them, when I thought I would move them, ants who had been living in one of the garden beds had taken up new residence under and around the rocks, so I left them in place. I guess you could try building a similar ant habitat on the other side of the fence.

Word on the streets is that worm castings repel ants. I haven't ever tried it on existing ants, but I use lots of worm poo in my garden, and I don't ever see any ants in the garden.

I have found it I keep them knee deep in water it will get them to move on...Can you water the area enough without harming the plant...truthfully the ants in my garden eat the aphids as soon as they arrive...I love the ants.

Well I have lots of rocks since I live at the base of a small mountain. Maybe worm castings will help and they certainly can't hurt the soil. I was out watering last night watching the ants be so busy. They have always fascinated me as they do so much pretty much completely blind and deaf. You gotta respect that kind of can-do attitude.

Thanks for the tips. I'll give 'em a try.

You are so nice, wanting to only relocate them. I have had enough run-ins with ants in my garden that I mostl;y want to kill them. Mainly I leave them alone (I have 5 acres and a lot of ant hills) but when they are living in the garden beds I spray them with soapy water. One ant hill on our property that was about 8 feet long by 4 feet wide we dug up a bit to disrupt them. Live and let live is a lovely idea, but we have a lot of very assertive ants here! Probably because a lot of neighbors and farm fields nearby are full of pesticides and herbicides, so they all run to us. An ant bit me on the face the other day while I was smelling a wild plum blossom. I know they are good for lots of things, but that doesn't mean I have to like them . . .

Marcia

Ants generally nest where the soil is dry, so if you can soak the soil deep enough to wet the nest they will move on.

I'm so glad you started this thread because I feel the same way (mostly don't mind the ants but don't want them on my vegetable bed because they're not eating the aphids, but are happy harvesting sappy honeydew the aphids produce), but I don't want to kill them. please share what you try and if that works. thanks!

ants don't eat aphids, ruthieg

There are over 240 species of ants that not only eat, but also farm and protect aphids in their nests. Ants are the earliest farmers we know of, beating humans by almost 50 million years. They are truly amazing.