[newatthis]

dont know if is the right place to put this so please feel free to move it if need be,
my neighbours raised a question today to something we had not even noticed, they went digging for worms to give to there hens and the strange thing was no worms, loads of slugs and other creepy crawleys, so we had a dig around and we have the same problem, so here's the question how do we fix the problem, how do we get worms back in the soil please

[Lee G]

Whenever I've gotten any well rotted horse manure it's always been full of loads of worms, plus your veg will love it too (except carrots & parsnips)

[peapod]

Definately could be that the soil is poor quality or heavy clay.  Digging in plenty of organic matter, especially muck as LeeG says, will bring them back.

[peterjf]

to start worms off in compost you could visit local angling tackle shop

[Salmo]

You are not far from me. We have been very dry in recent weeks and the worms will have gone deep.

[peapod]

You are not far from me. We have been very dry in recent weeks and the worms will have gone deep.

Somewheres been dry??     

[Faz]

Over here in sunny Kent it has only rained once or twice in the last 5 or 6 weeks. The lawn is now pretty much dying off!

I still seem to have plenty of worms, just not right close to the surface.

[scabs]

The horse poo at our site is full of beautiful blood red worms and it is certainly a great way to get them into your beds!

Peter, I think the worms sold as bait are not that great in the garden... though I could well be proved wrong on that. 

[aelf]

there are two basic types of worm (and many species):

1. burrowing worms, usually big and juicy. They live in burrows and pull dead vegetation down into the burrows to eat, then squirt their castings onto the soil surface. There are usually lower numbers per square metre of burrowers but that depends on soil type and the amount of litter (dead vegetation) on the soil surface.

2. Litter worms, usually smaller and red. These live in the surface debris (down to about 12 inches) of the soil. They don't make burrows as such but just plough through the debris, eating it and leaving the castings behind in the soil. These are the ones you will find in your compost. The richer the soil (or compost), the more of these you will have.


Both types are good! Worms like the ground to be moist, so the trick is to enrich your soil with organic matter and keep it moist, then the worms will multiply in it!

[newatthis]

thankyou guys and girls, i will take some of my worms from my home compost bin and put them in the bin at the allotment, and fingers x, but how do i get the other type of worms? or will they turn up once the soil has been done,
the plan is to put a ton of horse poo on the patch we are going to dig over ready for next yr not sure where we are putting pots next yr so can we put horse poo there or leave an area free? well back to the plan put a layer about 2 inch thick and water it and cover with black plastic cover thingie, and keep it moist for about a week the rotavate it in and then put another layer on top and just water and cover again till next yr, or do i keep the cover off and just keep it moist by water eveyday if it hasnt rained?...
or do i do something esle??, any ideas??, thankyou

[Swing Swang]

Worms will turn up once you get the conditions right, no need to buy them in.

I think that a lot of eggs carry over in grass clippings though.

SS

[aelf]

Swing Swang is right. Prep the soil now and this time next year it will be wormtastic!