Bulbs
Flower Basics
Flower Beds & Specialty Gardens
Flower Garden
Garden Furniture
Garden Gnomes
Garden Seeds
Garden Sheds
Garden Statues
Garden Tools & Supplies
Gardening Basics
Green & Organic
Groundcovers & Vines
Growing Annuals
Growing Basil
Growing Beans
Growing Berries
Growing Blueberries
Growing Cactus
Growing Corn
Growing Cotton
Growing Edibles
Growing Flowers
Growing Garlic
Growing Grapes
Growing Grass
Growing Herbs
Growing Jasmine
Growing Mint
Growing Mushrooms
Orchids
Growing Peanuts
Growing Perennials
Growing Plants
Growing Rosemary
Growing Roses
Growing Strawberries
Growing Sunflowers
Growing Thyme
Growing Tomatoes
Growing Tulips
Growing Vegetables
Herb Basics
Herb Garden
Indoor Growing
Landscaping Basics
Landscaping Patios
Landscaping Plants
Landscaping Shrubs
Landscaping Trees
Landscaping Walks & Pathways
Lawn Basics
Lawn Maintenance
Lawn Mowers
Lawn Ornaments
Lawn Planting
Lawn Tools
Outdoor Growing
Overall Landscape Planning
Pests, Weeds & Problems
Plant Basics
Rock Garden
Rose Garden
Shrubs
Soil
Specialty Gardens
Trees
Vegetable Garden
Yard Maintenance
Carpenter Ants & Cedar Mulch
Carpenter Ants & Cedar Mulch. Cedar mulch benefits plants by reducing weed growth, retaining soil moisture and maintaining soil temperature. Wood mulches, however, also attract their share of insects, including carpenter ants.
Cedar mulch benefits plants by reducing weed growth, retaining soil moisture and maintaining soil temperature. Wood mulches, however, also attract their share of insects, including carpenter ants.
About Carpenter Ants
Carpenter ants help the wood decomposition process by building nests in decayed stumps, hollow trees and dead limbs. Despite common belief, carpenter ants don't live beneath or in layers of wood-chip mulch. If you spot them roaming in mulched areas, they're probably just searching for moisture or foraging for dead bugs.
Treatment for Them
If you want to get rid of carpenter ants, treat them near their nesting site and not in cedar mulch. Carpenter ants like sweets. So setting a sugar-based bait station near their nest can trap the insects, but carefully read and follow instructions and safety precautions on the bait station's label. A bait station should not be used in an area where children and pets will be. Check the bait station regularly, and replace it as needed.
Mulch Tips
Although carpenter ants build their main nests outdoors, they may form satellite colonies in a house if they find a way inside it. Keeping mulch at least 3 inches from your home's foundation can keep the pests from finding an entrance into your indoor living space.
