Fruit trees

Kathleen fortune

We have apple and plum trees plagued with ants. We ahve tried the tar bands from the garden centre to no avail. Help please!

Alina W

You say the band doesn't work - it should if it's well-fitting. Are you sure that the ants aren't getting on the tree because they can use a different route?

paull2

Not sure that ants are a bad thing. Plum trees can be attacked by aphids which produces unsightly leaf curl but no great harm. Don't ants attack aphids or am I missing something?

Alina W

No, ants farm aphids. Aphids suck sap from trees, weakening them, and excrete sugar in the form of honeydew - that's what the ants want. So ants farming aphids on a tree are not good news.