I don't particularly mind them, but I also do not want the ant population in my yard to get any larger for fear of them invading the house. (Or me gardening and sinking a foot into an ant's nest - and then I would freak out.) So my main concern is: If I spread the dirt out across the garden, will I be encouraging multiple new colonies?

I accidentally found a bunch of ant eggs yesterday (in the garden). The nurseries were very near the surface and I immediately thought whether raking or tilling the top few inches would be helpful. Thoughts?

What I've Tried:
There is no main entrance to the colony that I can tell(because it's not a nice mounded ant hill) to pour boiling water in. I've tried sprinkling Spectracide ant barrier granules around a smaller nest, which didn't seem to do much other than keep the ants underground (they show up scrambling around when I spade the dirt a little bit.) I've also sprinkled coffee grounds and citrus peels around the smaller nest and it seems unaffected.

Finally, the smaller nest is actually in a flat area of the garden that I'd like to plant with something (perennials probably). I hesitate because I know the ground will swarm when I dig into that area, but are there any more serious implications of planting there?

Thanks in advance for any input/insights.

New colonies are started by the queen laying several eggs that become queens and then the new queens abandoning the nest, taking some males with them. They are rarely - if ever - started by disturbance.

Dan