Worm casts

Sonny88 · 10 Oct 2008

Hi All.

This year has been the worst ever......................

For worm casts on the lawn, (what a mess they make)

there must be a simplenway to remove these critters for good.

Please help!

r896neo · 10 Oct 2008

for going fishing we used to use 4 stainless steel prongs attached to a generator. Wet the ground, turn it on and hey presto up they come!

Or the tried and tested soapy water. You can buy products that will suppress them as they don't like acid most of the treatments involve decreasing soil pH but then again grass isn't mad for a very low pH either.

libby lou lou · 10 Oct 2008

Brush the worm casts in, you need the worms for a healthy lawn. They keep the soil structure open, to get a bit of air to the roots.

Thermo · 11 Oct 2008

worms are not critters they are an essential part of the ecosystem of your garden and keeping your lawn healthy. the worm casts actually contain nutrients and do no harm whatsoever to your lawn. they only need brushing in once they appear.

Symptoms · 11 Oct 2008

Sonny - up until about 15 years ago you could buy a very effective worm treatment for lawns, it was a powerful chemical (I can't remember what it was called) that you watered in and it killed them ... quite rightly it was banned (I bet the odd bowling green keeper still uses old supplies illegally). The only way to deal with them is to 'brush' them off - books suggest a besom broom (witches broom) although I've never found them to be satisfactory. I use a steel tined rake with a 'swiping' or 'flicking' action, not a raking action ... works for me. Yeh, you have to keep at it but it is good exercise

Sonny88 · 13 Oct 2008

Thanks for all your replies. BUT.......

I still not sure what I can do for the best, yes I know that

its proof of a healthy lawn, and that they are our best 'lawn friends'

but it still leaves the lawn looking awful after cutting. Sweeping it off

seems to be the only way, 'O my back!'

coastal16 · 18 Oct 2008

Symptoms said:
Sonny - up until about 15 years ago you could buy a very effective worm treatment for lawns, it was a powerful chemical (I can't remember what it was called) that you watered in and it killed them ... quite rightly it was banned (I bet the odd bowling green keeper still uses old supplies illegally). The only way to deal with them is to 'brush' them off - books suggest a besom broom (witches broom) although I've never found them to be satisfactory. I use a steel tined rake with a 'swiping' or 'flicking' action, not a raking action ... works for me. Yeh, you have to keep at it but it is good exercise

Carbendazim

it's a fungicide and still available for arable crops.

Symptoms · 23 Oct 2008

coastal - clearing out the garage and found an old bottle of the worm killer I mentioned in an earlier post, it wasn't carbendazim but chlordane. Naturally I googled it ... very nasty stuff with all sorts of effects, good job they banned it. There's about 1" of stuff left in the bottle ... better phone the Council for disposal advice; and to think I was putting this over my lawn 20 odd years ago

Sonny88 · 24 Oct 2008

perhaps I'll try the soapy water treatment.......Seems the safest!!

what kind of soap? powder, washing up etc??
how to mix, at what ratio.....
watering can??

Thermo · 24 Oct 2008

i have to say im shaking my head at this one. are you so blind that you cant see by killing them off you will not get the lawn that you crave. its called nature.

deefadog · 7 Nov 2008

I agree, i am even going to do the opposite and add worms to my lawn to improve the drainage next year, add sand to the surface add worms and let them do the work

coldshowerkid · 8 Nov 2008

I have a lawn that gets a lot of worm casts at this time of year.
mine in a clay soil, i found top dressing the lawn with Peat ( did i say a banned word!!) Sharp sand mixture adds some acid to the lawn which cuts down the worm activity and also makes the casts you do get less solid and easy to sweep in.

A lawn in my opinion is like any other plant, it needs looking after and not poisoned

all the best

imamartian · 8 Nov 2008

next you'll be wanting to stop the tree in your garden producing oxygen..try sellotape on all the leaves... or varnish!

Do you live on a bowling green? Do you hate hilly ground? make it all flat? Get a bulldozer....
Do you hate the way the sea splashes on the beach? perhaps put a big wall up? or add cement to the beach....?
i could go on.... i won't !

Srodders · 23 Nov 2008

Worms are the best thing you can have in your lawn. Is it actually worms that are causing the problem though? Leatherjackets are very active at the moment and casue more trouble in lawns than worms.

Sonny88 · 23 Nov 2008

Leatherjackets are no problem at all, they feed the Starlings!

The worm casts do make the lawn look awful when it is cut!

Moss is now another problem, thats worse again this year, We spend all

year trying toget rid of it, only for it to re-appear at this time of

year.

diynot

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Worm casts

imamartian

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