Earthworms are important to your garden. Their poop (earthworm castings, or manure) improves the soil structure and adds nutrients to the plants and microbes. There are over 7000 species of earthworms. A common misconception is that they eat just dirt. But they actually eat fungi, bacteria, and organic matter that’s found mixed in the soil. Today, we’ll go over everything you can do to attract earthworms back into your garden. Let’s get started!
Table of Contents
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How do earthworms improve your soil?
The tunnels in the soil created by them help the water to go into the soil instead of running off. When they eat the fungi, bacteria and organic matter, the castings they produce contains, nitrogen, potassium and phosphorous, calcium, iron and magnesium, all of which are essential nutrients for your plants. To make it more simple, they help break down organic matter and fertilize your plants.
Types of earthworms
There are 3 major categories of earthworms.
- Litter dwellers are found in crop debris and leaves. Manure worms used in vermiculture are in this group.
- Topsoil dwellers are found in the upper 2 inches of soil. They eat organic matter found in the soil. They create horizontal borrows which they fill with their poop.
- Subsoil dwellers create vertical borrows that goes 5-6 feet down into the soil and deposit their poop on the surface of the ground.
How to attract earthworms into your soil
- Stop disturbing the soil – To attract earthworms to your garden it super important to stop disturbing the soil will cause them to leave. You might cover their tunnels and kill some of them. One option to not till and disturb the soil is by using raised beds. Check out the benefits and disadvantages of using raised beds.
- Avoid Weed Killers – Every gardener should know how pesticides work. They kill unwanted plants and bugs. Stop using them and use natural ways to remove bugs.
- Avoid Synthetic Fertilizers – Don’t use the synthetic fertilizers, but add organic matter into the soil. Using synthetic fertilizers might repel worms and make them work harder.
- Keep the soil moist but not a swamp – If you’re going to want to attract earthworms you’ve got to make sure they have enough water to survive, as they are made of 80% water. They breathe through their skins, which is why they come up to ground level to breathe. They’ll drown if they didn’t. Keep the soil moist and don’t over water.
- Soil Texture – Earthworms prefer loamy soil. Loamy soil is a mix between clay, sand, and silt. Sandy soil dries out quickly and clay soil holds too much water.
- Temperature and Acidity – They like a neutral pH of 7 but will tolerate a pH of 5-8. Since they’re cold-blooded, the worms have to stay below the frost line. Some of them burrow deep below the soil and some stay in eggs to hatch once the weather warms up.
- Have an environment they love – Earthworms like to live in cool, dark and moist environments. They like to eat organic matter and smaller micro-organisms. To get them to come into your garden, all you have to do is add organic matter on top of your garden soil. Organic matter can be compost, leaf mould, or mushroom compost. You can also mix it in, but it’s best not to disturb the soil.
Creating an environment that’s healthy for earthworms to live in will attract earthworms to your garden. Before I let you go, let me tell you a brief story. A few years ago we planted potatoes late in the season. When winter came, we didn’t harvest any potatoes, and the plant died. Next spring, we came back to the potato plant that had died and digged up the ground to see if there were any potatoes.
There were rotten gooey potatoes, which you can’t use, right? There were also some super huge earthworms in the area. We digged around some more and saw even more worms. The earthworms were sustained happily all winter long.
Final Thoughts
By implementing these strategies to attract earthworms to your garden, you’ll be well on your way to creating a worm loving environment. Remember, patience is key, so give your garden time to adjust and the worm population to flourish. With a little effort, you’ll soon have a thriving ecosystem beneath the surface, improving your soil health and boosting your plant growth.
To learn more about what these amazing worms do, you can read this post: https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/agriculture/soils/guides/soil-biology/earthworms#
