In message , pied piper
writes

organic matter on which the worms feeds can be as deep as two feet . Casting
worms are a pest to lawns and sports turf surfaces therefore preventatives
need to be used to control casting worms . Years ago Sydane was used which
just killed everything in the ground which is rightly why it has now been
banned . Unfortunately the preventatives are more costly and have to be
applied every three to four months for casting worms and every year for
leatherjacket control.
Of course the other way is to add lime to your soil to change the PH which
will also deter the worms but this is not suitable for sand based fescue
grasses.
Hope this helps and doesnt confuse you further Kay



Its amazing that uninformed people still go on about earthworms
being a pest. It's been over 100 years since Darwin published his work
on earthworms and the formation of vegetable mould. Since you probably
won't have access to his work or any of the numerous papers that support
his findings I will summarise.

To summarise his work, earthworms, in particular those species
that browse on the surface improve the fertility of the soil: their
vertical burrows allow air into the soil; increase drainage ; their
casts, which are a mixture of fine soil and organic waste from the
leaves they browse on, are an ideal fertilizer.

Another group of earthworms that haven't been mentioned are the
small species that live in the root mat. These are equally beneficial,
and being only able to burrow short distances are particularly
vulnerable to any noxious chemicals applied to the surface.

As to the surface browsers living happily without browsing on
the surface - no way, their only option is to feed or aestivate (i.e.
move to the bottom of the burrow, curl up and wait for better
conditions). Work by Evans and Raw in the 1970s demonstrated that none
of the chemical applications available then caused earthworms to
aestivate - it just killed them (in spite of the claims of the
producers) and I doubt if any of the newer concoctions are any better.

In case you think I'm confused or miss informed my information
comes from a 30 year career as an Oligochaetologist (that's an expert on
earthworms).
--
Amynthas
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