Earthworms may be unsightly creatures, but they are crucial to proper lawn care.
Earthworms are a common sight after the rain on sidewalks and patios. The reason why earthworms often appear on these surfaces is actually to prevent themselves from suffocating while the soil is saturated with water. Earthworms are not pests like other insects. They may be unsightly creatures, but earthworms are crucial in maintaining a healthy lawn and lawn care. Without earthworms, lawns would be nothing more than piles of dirt. This is how earthworms are the hidden heroes of healthy lawn care.
Earthworms Naturally Perform Lawn Care
Earthworms are a major player in keeping grass healthy and give sod the ability to grow. Earthworms are decomposers, which means they disintegrate dead material and extract the nutrients as food. However, something unique to earthworms is their ability to vermicompost. Earthworms secrete a substance known as vermicast, which is a very helpful fertilizer for plants and grass rich in nutrients. Essentially, earthworms are performing lawn care support all day, every day!
They Are Mini Lawn Shovels
Besides providing nutrients to the soil, earthworms work in another way to benefit your lawn care process. Earthworms move in and out of the soil underground and can go pretty much anywhere. The deeper they burrow, the more the soil becomes aerated. This means that even the soil farthest away from insect and sun activity receives nutrients regularly, which stimulates plant root growth. Moving around underground can also bring up new layers of healthy soil from below to replace the decaying soil on the lawn’s top layers.
How To Welcome Earthworms To Your Lawn
Having plenty of earthworm activity can signify that you are an expert at lawn care. After all, a lawn with no earthworms can hardly be a lawn at all. Here are a few ways you can encourage earthworms to help with your lawn care activities and keep them around permanently:
- Keep up proper lawn care activities, such as adding new sod where needed, weeding frequently, and using pest preventative measures.
- Water the grass every so often, but be careful not to oversaturate!
- Keep an organic supply of nutrients on the lawn as earthworm food. A compost pile or even some cornmeal sprinkled in some areas should be plenty.
- Make sure to occasionally dethatch the lawn. Keeping a thatch too condensed can deter earthworms from coming up to the layers of soil where your grass grows.
- Do not use artificial pesticides on your lawn unless necessary.
- Purchasing live earthworms is also an option if you are in an area that lacks them naturally.
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