Rewilding My Lot

I’ve written before about how ants have caused me to change my attire for gardening, but they benefit the soil. In these early days of developing this lot, they really are my chief helpers in aerating, mixing, and feeding the soil.

Many times I have found that a deeply rooted weed also coincides with significant ant presence. I wonder if ants find tunnels easier to dig next to roots, or whether plant roots find it easier to grow where ants have loosened the soil. Maybe both apply.

Ants are always very active after rain, presumably moving to drier ground. After our recent heavy rain, there was the usual flurry of activity, including these two interesting structures around new tunnels being formed.