Earthworms

We have quite a few dead earthworms on my sidewalk. It is almost like they were migrating and got caught on the sidewalk. Other people in the neighborhood have dead earthworms on their sidewalks, but not as many as we have. Can anyone shed some light on this?

txflowerlady

Did it rain recently? It's fairly common to find them on sidewalks after it rains, I don't know if they get washed out, or if they just come up to the surface while it's raining and crawl around and sometimes end up on the sidewalk as a result. Then of course if the sun comes out and they aren't able to get back in the dirt quick enough they won't survive for too long.

Hey Txflowerlady: Since earthworms don't have lungs or gills, it breathes through its skin.Heavy rains will cause worms to crawl to the surface to avoid drowning and become stranded on the sidewalks and driveways.These worms will die quickly due to ultraviolet light exposure and drying.
Also earthworms are hermaphrodites so each earthworm is both male and female and any two adult earthworms can mate.Mating tends to take place on or just below the soil surface and at night.-

Many folks nuke their yards and gardens with heavy salts which are synthetic fertilizers, herbicides, insecticides and fungicides. Leaching from over use of manures is equally bad. When rains come the water soaks up the poison salts and flows down hill to wells, streams, rivers, bays and oceans. No self respecting worm will stay in that flow long. Many are forced to the surface for this reason too.

docgipe,

We have not nuked our lawn for three or four years now, after 35 yrs of nuking it. I finally convinced my DH that synthetic fertilizers are a bad thing for the reasons that you mentioned. It has been a struggle weaning our lawn from synthetic fertilizers, It had withdrawal symptoms.....that with the lack of rain that we had for a couple of years.

This year we aerated and top dressed the lawn with composted cotton burr. The lawn looked better than it had in years. All the rain that we had in the spring and early summer didn't hurt either.

When we were walking in the neighborhood we noticed earthworms on the sidewalks, but not as many as we had. Which made me think that because of the composted cotton burr we had more earthworms than our neighbors. I could be wrong.

There is no doubt what so ever that your worms will stay home and happy as the tilth and general soil health improve.

Any organic treatment to any soil will improve that soil. In time you will not have to do nothing but mow it. Now here is another emotional challenge.....set the cut up to four inches and leave all the grass lay where it lands.

You may... but it is not at all neccessary... add a very light organic fertilizer...low numbers....like
4-2-4. The three numbers should not exceed 10 when added together. One forty pound bag spring and fall will feed 10,000 sq ft. I do this only if the visual account of the grass suggests a need. I do not like to mow grass. I do not do it every year although at first I did it twice a year.
That was at least thirty five years ago. My lawn is the nicest looking in our neighborhood under any and all conditions.