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Earthworms In the Garden
By Damien Gray
Earthworms eat organic matter. This simple statement is not only the primary function of an earthworm but it’s also the essence of what makes them so valuable to their immediate environment. While earthworms are eating to live they are providing the service of taking the organic matter from which they are feeding and mixing it with the soil. As a result, the nutrients become much more readily accessible to micro-organisms and plants. The increased microbial activity further aids the decomposition process, providing even more benefits to plants. Earthworms eat around half their body weight in soil and organic materials every day. Some species of earthworm excrete the faeces as casts on the surface of the soil and, in Britain, it has been shown that, left untouched, the soil surface would be buried to a depth of 18cm in 100 years. That’s 18cm of extremely nutrient rich soil. In order for earthworms to get to new sources of food they have to burrow through the soil. The channels they produce are ideal for root, water and air penetration deep into the soil. The casts produced by the earthworm are generally rougher than the surrounding soil and so they pack together more loosely which allows greater penetration of roots, water and air. Soil that is rich in earthworms is usually capable of holding more water without becoming waterlogged. Where this would not quite be the case is in the case of soil in pot plants where the channels created by worms would simply increase the speed in which water would drain from the pot. Apart from this minor drawback, there is overwhelming evidence in the need to encourage earthworms into your garden.
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The copyright for this content has been relinquished by the author. The content may be used freely by anyone.
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