Introduce Earthworms into your Garden
Gardeners eager to revitalize their lawns and gardens may spend hundreds of dollars on tools and products designed to improve soil and growing conditions. Although many of these items can be advantageous, gardeners also may want to look to nature’s best garden helpers: earthworms.
It is believed that nearly 3,000 different types of earthworms inhabit the planet. Worms have been around for hundreds of millions of years.
This is cold comfort from lawn owners blighted with lawn worm casts.
The University of Illinois Extension says most earthworms found, particularly in North America, can only grow so long, even though some worms seem like they stretch forever underneath the ground. Depending on the type of worm and how many segments it has, as well as its age and ability to get nutritious foods, worms typically reach only a few inches in length, offers National Geographic. There are some anomalies, however. The Oregon giant earthworm is one of the largest earthworms found in North America, growing to more than three feet in length. That worm is very rare, however. In 2016, a 16-inch-long earthworm was discovered in England and became part of the collection at the Natural History Museum in London. Some Australian and South American earthworms are known to grow much larger.
Worms need the correct mix of oxygen, moisture and favorable temperatures to survive. If they do not have these components, they will seek them out elsewhere. Because of the many benefits earthworms provide, they can be a boon to landscapes.
Credit: The Stanly News and Press
Comments