I am having some soil put around my home’s foundation to direct surface water away from the house. Should I be concerned that the soil might contain termites, carpenter ants or some other pest? 

Homeowners frequently question whether insect pest problems can be introduced through soil and other materials brought to the home site. Fortunately, pests are not so easily or successfully transported and the concern is minimal. This is especially true for the social insects you mentioned. Social insects do not regularly exist or spread as a single individual. The members of the colony survive and spread only if the colony survives and spreads.

Termites in Iowa are subterranean and live in large colonies that occupy a network of chambers and galleries from a few inches to several feet deep in the soil. The possibility of excavating an intact colony and relocating it is very, very slim. Even if a few individuals survive the disruption of excavation and transport, the scattered few surviving workers do not constitute a colony. One of the queens and many attendant workers and soldiers would have to survive together to be a colony. It seems theoretically possible but is highly unlikely. The more the soil is agitated, stirred, mixed and manipulated, the lower the already-low probabilities become.

Carpenter ants do not live in the soil. They inhabit chambers and galleries chewed into wood such as stumps, logs, dead limbs, firewood and occasionally construction lumber such as window sills. Transported soil would not include carpenter ants. Other species of ants located in the soil at the time of digging would be disrupted in the same way as the termite colony and would not establish.

Of course as soon as the new soil is in place, leveled and planted, termites and ants from the neighborhood can move in or through it. Keep an eye on it and contact a local pest management professional if you suspect problems (especially termites, which are known to occur in localized portions of the state).

Snow-on-the-mountain is taking over my shade garden.  How can I destroy it?

Several plants are sometimes referred to as snow-on-the-mountain. I'm guessing that you probably have variegated bishop's weed (Aegopodium podagraria ‘Variegatum’). It is also known as variegated goutweed.

Variegated bishop’s weed has medium green leaves with creamy white margins. Plants grow eight to 10 inches tall. It most often is used as a groundcover as it spreads rapidly via underground stems or rhizomes. Unfortunately, variegated bishops’s weed spreads so rapidly it often becomes invasive. 

Variegated bishop’s weed is very difficult to destroy. All of its roots and rhizomes must be completely destroyed to eliminate it. Destruction of variegated bishop’s weed will probably take repeated efforts over a three to five-month period. Two different methods can be used to destroy the plant. One option is to repeatedly dig up the plants and remove all the roots and rhizomes that are visible in the soil. Another approach is to carefully apply glyphosate (Roundup) to the variegated bishop’s weed. (Glyphosate is a non-selective herbicide. It will kill virtually all plants to which it is applied. When applying glyphosate, make sure that none of the material gets on desirable plants.) Roundup likely will have to be applied several times over a three to five-month period.  Persistence is the key to the successful eradication of variegated bishop’s weed. 

--30--