How Can I Attract Earthworms to My Garden Soil?

Earthworms create perfect, healthy soil for gardens.

Earthworms are not just good fishing bait. They also provide many benefits to home gardens. Earthworms leave behind castings, excrement that contains nutrients such as phosphorus, nitrogen, calcium and potassium. As they wend their way through the soil, they create small tunnels that help nutrients reach the root systems of the plants growing above. Attracting beneficial earthworms to the garden is an easy way to improve soil conditions and increase yields.

Things You'll Need

• Garden rake
• Fallen leaves
• Black plastic garbage bag
• Shovel
• Knife
• Earthworm eggs

Instructions

1. Stop using pesticides, fungicides or other treatments that do not contain all-natural ingredients. The chemicals in these substances are harmful to earthworms, as well as many other insects that are beneficial to the garden, such as ladybugs and praying mantises.

2. Maintain a consistently moist soil in your garden by watering it once or twice a week. The main reason earthworms die or avoid certain soils is inadequate moisture levels. Earthworms need constant, steady moisture to survive. But avoid oversaturating the soil, as earthworms can drown and die in standing water.

3. Rake and collect fallen leaves each year during the fall. Place the leaves in a black plastic garbage bag with one shovelful of soil. Use a knife to poke six to eight holes in various spots on the bag.

4. Add enough water to the garbage bag to slightly moisten the contents, and then close the bag securely. Allow the bag to sit until the following spring, adding moisture when needed. This process creates organic leaf mold earthworms can feed on.

5. Spread a 2- to 3-inch layer of the leaf mold on top of the garden soil every spring. Spread the leaf mold evenly over the soil with a garden rake.

Tips & Warnings

• According to K.P. Barley's "Advances in Agronomy," studies show that soils containing an abundance of earthworms produce yields 25 percent to 300 percent higher than earthworm-free soil.

• Purchase earthworm eggs online or through a reputable earthworm distributor to get a good head start. Earthworm eggs develop into adult earthworms that begin to reproduce in an average of three months.

• Do not use leaves previously sprayed with a fungicide or pesticide, as these repel earthworms from your garden.

References

• Organic Gardener: Earthworms, The Organic Fertilizer
• Trinity Ranch: Earthworm Benefits
• The City Naturalist: Earthworms
• Rainyside: How to Make Leaf Mold