Earthworms are your friends, especially if you have been into organic gardening for the longest time. If you are still starting as a garden enthusiast, then know that earthworms are incredibly beneficial in keeping your garden alive and healthy. This is the main reason why people have been looking for answers on how to attract earthworms to their garden.
There are several benefits to keeping earthworms in your garden soil. One of which is that they consume decaying matter, bacteria, and fungi that can cause significant issues in your garden if left unattended. Also, their worm castings serve as an effective fertilizer for plants. The list goes on. In this article, you will learn all the essential things you need to know how to attract earthworms to your garden.
Benefits of Earthworms in Soil
Earthworms are considered best friends of the earth since they offer lots of benefits to the garden soil as well as the gardener. A common misconception is that worms eat dirt. In reality, they consume fungi and bacteria, such as in a decaying plant’s decomposing matter. Moreover, they give off “worm castings,” which are similar to manure filled with nutrients. Plants love these kinds of nutrients.
There are around 7000 species of earthworms, and this number is divided into 23 families and 700 genera. They have one thing in common, and that is they naturally aerate and till the soil. Moreover, they speed the decomposition or composting process and mix soils for better nutrient absorption. It is almost as if you have pets that monitor yourself, and these are your soil-friendly earthworms.
Ways on How to Attract Earthworms to Your Garden
Knowing how to attract earthworms is as easy as one, two, three. There are several ways of attracting worms and letting them stay in your garden for good.
Do Not Use Pesticides or Weed Killers
Every gardener knows how pesticides work. This should be a no-brainer for people who consider themselves as garden enthusiasts. Even without scientific studies and research to back this argument up, pesticides have detrimental effects not only on plants but also on the earthworms and the ecosystem.
Organic gardeners tend to avoid using pesticides in the garden. However, the challenge lies in protecting your garden yard from pesticide drift. This may come from other nearby farms or yards in your neighborhood. This is the reason why site selection matters so much. You may opt to use physical barriers and help reduce the risk of pesticide drift. Nevertheless, always plan where you are going to put up your garden space.
Make A Conducive and Welcoming Environment
Earthworms are not greedy. Hence, they are not asking for too much despite the benefits they provide for your garden. In learning how to attract earthworms, you must first know the basics. Earthworms love to thrive in cold, dark, and moist environments, and they always hunt for organic goodies to consume. You can mulch your garden and help your soil retain the moisture that earthworms and your vegetables need.
You may also keep these good earthworms well-fed by adding in lots of organic matter and compost to your garden soil. Earthworms are not that difficult to please.
Do Not Disturb Your Soil Too Much
There are conventional gardening methods that include tilling the soil to work compost and introducing new amendments into the soil. Doing this can cause disturbance on the land. This will also damage the existing ecosystems that thrive in your garden. Do not do this anymore if you are aiming to make the earthworms stay and work in your garden for free.
Beneficial creatures such as earthworms are often harmed in the process of tilling. It’s about time to use raised garden beds or observing the lasagna-type gardening method.
Buy Earthworms for Your Garden
In the worst-case scenario, when all hope is lost, do not lose hope. You may still buy earthworms if you cannot attract them to live in your yard. This is only a backup plan when all else fails. Creating a hospitable environment for earthworms should be the first move. This is because when you have everything in place, and the worms also have everything that they need to thrive in your garden, they will quickly find their ways into your garden.
Even if you introduce new earthworms into your garden, it would all be gone to waste if it does not offer the essential requisites that worms need to survive. They will either die or leave for better soil. Sounds sad, right? However, if your garden is ready as an earthworm residence, you can already buy earthworms from a local dealer that sells them. You should consider buying earthworm species that are native to your area. They will have an easier time adapting to your backyard environment.
Also, you can purchase earthworms online on Amazon and other similar websites. You can buy it anywhere you want. Just make sure that your soil is earthworm-ready and also healthy for planting seedlings. What is the use of earthworms if you are not planning to plant anything after all?
Conclusion
I hope that through this article, you learned how to attract earthworms to your garden. It is not that difficult. All you have to remember is that having soil that worms love is the only key to attracting them. They enjoy healthy and nutrient-rich soil, and you have to take care of your soil before achieving that. A great tip that I learned from gardening experience is that adding mulches and compost regularly are the best ways to keep your garden soil healthy. If you do this regularly, the earthworms will immediately become part of your garden’s ecosystem.