Ants, ants, and more ants

Big black ants, little black ants, little red ants, even a few with wings ...
Okay I am fairly new to gardening. I think I am fairly good for a newbie, but I have some possibly stupid questions. I feel like my yard is a haven for every possible kind of ant. Along the seems of paving stones, under mulch, under and around edging bricks, it's ants, ants, ants!
So, I have a few questions:
1. How bad are they for the plants?
2. Could they be what is eating the lower leaves of my Hostas and much of the leaves off of my Lily of the Valleys?
3. What are the most environmentally friendly ways to massacre the little buggers?

I am not strictly organic, but lean that way as much as possible.
I live in coastal Mass., if that makes a difference.

 

Go to the main forum for Garden Pest Management and ID, then click on the Search this forum button in the upper right. Search for ants - should address most of your questions, if not all of them.

 

My guess for you hostas would be slugs. Are there slime trails? If there are slime trails you've got slugs and snails. As for the ants, I generally leave them alone but did find that borax was an effective deterrant to ants coming inside.

 

Hey if they don't hurt anything, I'll try to co-exist. I really don't like the tiny hills at the corner of every patio stone, though. Woud putting borax there help?
We certainly have snails, but I didn't know that they hurt planets, just thought they were bird food. The Hostas can take it, but the Lillies of the valley are in trouble. What can I do about the snails then? Thanks!


I did look at other ant threads and I don't have a big aphid problem (the odd few on my tomatoes).

 

I think Shell Busey's remedy was 2T of borax in a cup of icing sugar, placed in shallow dishes (lids of jars perhaps) in problem spots.

 

Thanks! Ants or snails?

 

Oh sorry, that's for ants.

I've never had snails to a point where they worry me, and I hear slugs blamed for hosta eating more often than I do snails. There is allegedly safe slug bait, but I'm not a big fan of that. I fortunately only have small slugs, so I squish those that I find, watch carefully for slug eggs in spring (clusters of translucent beads), and develop a tolerance for slightly munched hostas. Lily of the valley... it's at the end of its season now anyway so as long as it gets to bloom in spring you could just let it go. Another somewhat useful option is crushed eggshells, but you need enough to make a thick moat around the plants.

 

Thanks! I was guesing for ants, but wasn't sure.
I can live with slightly munched hostas as long as they stay "slightly". We've had very weird weather in the past 8 months or so and many plants didn't survive, but my hostas are inordinately happy.
Re. Lillies of the Valley: They were new in this year and haven't bloomed yet. I'm worried if they are too munched, they won't have the energy to come back next year.