ant hill in tree roots

[beesknees]

I have 2 big evans cherries in my yard side by side, one is not doing so good for some reason...upon inspection i noticed a ant hill right at the base in the roots of the tree, Could this be the problem..I'm not sure because everyone says ants are good for airation of the soil but considering how good the tree next to it is doing with no ants, i'm a little suspicious of that.
Could someone advise me in a way to get rid of them without hurting the tree...THANKS

[Smitty]

not so good with trees .but have always been told ants are good...ant hills are not...I'd try pouring baking soda/sugar mix around before I tried chemicals.

[Countryboy]

U can drive ants to a new location simply by flooding their nest area. Park a hose on it overnite and set it to just a trickle, or whatever volume u need to completely saturate the nest.

It won't hurt the Cherry Trees at all. They really can't get too much moisture.

Best of luck!