Earthworms are such efficient gardeners that they’ve gained a reputation worthy of nicknames like ‘nature’s ploughs’ and ‘garden engineers’. A healthy population of earthworms is known to lead to more fertile soil, which makes them invaluable to the modern home gardener. Read on to discover the ten most exciting benefits of earthworms for your lawn or garden.
1. Big Bellies, Big Benefits
Worms have the capacity to eat up to their body weight in food every day. Among other things, worms enjoy eating:
• Dead plants
• Fallen leaves
• Fungi, bacteria
• Dead animals
Pretty much anything organic!
2. Free Fertiliser
After eating everything in sight, worms recycle that organic matter into vital nutrients for your garden. Worm casts are typically much richer than the surrounding soil, containing up to:
• 5 times more nitrogen
• 7 times more phosphorus
• 1000 times more beneficial bacteria
3. Worms Dig Drainage
When they travel, worms create tunnels in the soil. These tunnels act as conduits for water, preventing surface runoff and reducing soil erosion. This minimises waterlogging and ensure your garden is getting the amount of water it needs to thrive.
4. Advanced Aeration
Not only do these tunnels create an efficient water supply, but they also help to increase oxygen circulation around your garden. This provides essential air circulation and allows roots to grow deeper.
5. A Great Source of Protein
Earthworms are even helpful when they’re being eaten! They’re vital sources of food for beneficial wildlife like birds, hedgehogs, and frogs, supporting overall ecosystem biodiversity for your lawn.
6. Rapid Reproduction
There’s no need to worry about wildlife eating up your worm entire worm supply. Mature worms can double in population in about 60 days! Plenty to go around, and plenty of bang for your buck.
7. Climate Change Heroes
Mini eco-warriors, worms will drag surface organic matter (carbon) deep into their burrows and mix it into their casts, helping to stabilise and store carbon in the soil profile. This is a key process in mitigating climate change!
8. Breaking It Down
Not satisfied with increasing aeration, deepening root growth, and enriching soil, some species of earthworms can even help break down certain harmful substances and pathogens as they pass through their digestive system, detoxifying the soil.
9. Super Structuring
Is there anything worms can’t do? Their mucus and casts bind tiny soil particles into casts, creating the ideal “crumb-like” structure needed for a healthy garden bed.
10. Perfect pH
The processes in their gut often help to buffer and moderate the soil’s pH, making the environment more favourable for plant nutrient uptake. The general effect of earthworm activity is a neutralising or buffering action, which typically moves the soil pH closer to the ideal range (around 6.0 to 7.0) preferred by most plants.
Introduce High-Quality Worms to Your Garden with Yorkshire Worms
Yorkshire Worms stocks a wide selection of earthworms, perfect for adding to your garden. We offer fast shipping across the UK, so you can start seeing benefits as soon as possible. Check out our worm colony pack, which includes earthworms of all sizes to benefit different depths of soil.