How is your garden soil? Is it clay and compacted? Do you have sandy soil? Or is it beautifully enriched topsoil? Although it may be great to have topsoil, not all of us are blessed with this. Where I live, we have clay soil. Deep, reddish brown, thick soil that holds water for days. Because most plants do not like wet roots so amending the soil is what we do. But there is something else that also helps, earthworms! Although they can be slimy and slither around like little snakes, they are so beneficial to the garden.
Benefits
Worms create tunnels within the soil that breaks it up and allows for air to circulate and increase the amount of water in your soil. They also leave worms castings behind which enriches the soil as a natural fertilizer. Worms feed on plant debris (dead roots, leaves, grasses, manure) and continuously enrich the soil. The more earthworms you see, the healthier your soil.
How to Encourage Earthworms
- Earthworms do not prefer acidic soil – less than 4.5. If you find that your soil is to acidic, add some lime to increase the pH.
- Increase organic matter into your garden.
- Compost your organic matter (leaves, decayed plants, vegetable scraps, etc)
- Use organic fertilizer
- Reduce the amount of fungicide used
- Keep soil moist
What to Do If You Don’t See Earthworms
Don’t panic, this is fixable. Go around your garden, in several spots, and dig a small hole. Do you see more earthworms in one area but not the other? Are you finding any?
You can start by adding organic matter (compost) to your garden, which will naturally attract the earthworms, or you can purchase them. There are several places to purchase, such as Amazon or Walmart (in the fishing section). Dig a small hole, or several, and place them in and cover. They will take it from here.
Conclusion
Sometimes the easiest way to fix our garden is the easiest. Just by knowing what we are starting with provides us a good path to follow. Try adding some worms or providing organic matter to increase your current supply and watch how your garden changes, for the better.
Happy Gardening!
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