|
| Hi. When we purchased this century home, the 1/4 acre was a blank slate of 80% clay turning to sand at 3 feet down and barely even any grass. Ugh! Work cut out for the next 10 months and the battle continues as I attempt to backfill every hole I dig. Thousands of $$ later, in trying to simply grow a lawn, I still have huge bald spots and mounds of what I first believed to be of Pharoah ants, which we also have. Anyone else what to move in?
THEN, while out one night with a flashlight after my black cat, to my horror, I witnessed earthworms squirming around to find debris (stones, twigs, leaves, and even young grass shoots) which they proceeded to pull down into their excrement laden mounds in order to seal off their holes!! Now I realize the mounds under my feet every 2" of my entire 1/4 acre are earthworm mounds! Unfortunately, we have had a very wet late summer and fall and with clay soil I will guess the lack of drainage only makes the worms 1000 times worse, even on a dry day. PLEASE HELP ME know how the heck to make them go away or at least cut them back. I do know they are good 'tillers' but this is a terrible war, not to mention creepy. A humble thanks. |
Follow-Up Postings:
|
- Posted by bassplayer7 6 (My Page) on Mon, Oct 3, 11 at 15:40
| Wow. That sounds like a disaster. Where do you live? Also, what did you spend several grand on? |
|
| Could you not cover them up with a thin layer of compost or dirt? In general, Earthworms that don't hide gets eaten any way. Paul |
|
| Post this over on the Organic Lawn Care or Soil, Compost and Mulch boards and see if you get some suggestions. |
|
| Thanks all. Paul, the 'worms' hide all day, so escape bird attacks. We don't have many nocturnal worm-eaters and that may or may not be a good thing. I had an opossum living under an old shed, ikely here for the worms now I think about it, but when we removed the building, found she had not made our harsh winter with six feet of snow in places. This spring we spread several yards of top soil and a triple mix made of mushroom compost, black earth and nutrients to level the ground. However, we've had a lot of rain, so worms are at surface again in no time. I was advised to sweep the mounds with a soft broom which also spreads the castings - great frertalizer. But,this means sweeping every day. Golf courses are also having this problem since the grub petacides were taken off market here and the only known pestacide to also control (kill) worms. Who knew? Oh well. |
|
- Posted by bassplayer7 6 (My Page) on Mon, Oct 3, 11 at 21:28
| That is interesting, and it makes me more curious where you are - since they've banned some insecticides. I'm guessing somewhere in Canada maybe? It sounds like your problems could be taken care of with insecticides but since that's not possible, we must look into other possibilities. I agree that posting on the organic forum might be helpful. Also, have we positively identified them as earthworms? Earthworms aren't hard to recognize, so I'm guessing that is what they are. I've never dealt with earthworms directly in a situation like that, so can't offer experience. |
|
| Ha, I thought you were joking originally. I have never heard of earthworm infestation. In my area, if you have that many worms, you'll find holes all over your yard when the skunks and raccoon have a picnic by the moonlight. After some reading, apparently it's a problem on golf course. I am thinking that it's because they cut their grass close. Most people have higher grass so that the mounds are not visible. What can you do? Earthworm feeds on organic materials, so don't mulch and bag your clippings. You can also apply sulfur which acidifies your soil and make it less friendly to the earthworms. I also notice this article, which apparently attempts to top dress the lawn with somewhat sharp materials so that earthworms move away. See optional link. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Innovative Management of Earthworm Castings on Golf Course Turf
|
- Posted by JimmyTheGlove none (My Page) on Mon, Oct 10, 11 at 16:30
| Anyone know anything about earwigs? At least I think they're earwigs. They're tiny little black wormy things that have tiny pinchers. They're not dangerous because they're so small but they keep turning up everywhere in our house. Luckily nothing in our food or pantry but everywhere else. We get sprayed by the bug man but that doesn't seem to cut it. Any ideas on how to exterminate these things?? |
|
- Posted by bassplayer7 6 (My Page) on Mon, Oct 10, 11 at 18:23
| Try buying Ortho Home Defense and spraying the exterior perimeter as well as the interior perimeter of the house. Spray a width of about a foot and you can be generous. The next step would be to spray the perimeter of every (or as many as possible) room in the house. I have found that simple, inexpensive solution to work extremely well for insects. I spray around my house every so often and regularly notice dead spiders or other insects in the sprayed area. It is very safe as far as people and pets. It kills them when they walk through even dried spray. |
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in. If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Lawn Care Forum
Instructions
- You must be a registered member and logged in to post messages on our forums.
- Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review the contents and make changes.
- After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
- It is illegal to post copyrighted material without the owner's consent.
- HTML codes are allowed in the message field only.
- No advertising is allowed in any of the forums.
- If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
- If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.