worms and lawns
 

I know the chemicals that you once could use to discourage worm casts
have now been 'struck off' but is there nay other way that you can
deter them?

I have to cut a very large lawn and there's an immense amount of
womcasts on the surface at the moment.
Funnily enough the front lawn which i scarified way back in the spring
has few cats on it but the back looks terrible with splodges of squashed
soil all over it and which are now killing the grass in patches.

Yes i know that worms are good esp3cially the ones in the compost but
just wanted to know if you have found anything that deters them from
the surface of lawns/

Janet
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

worms and lawns
 

In article , Martin
writes
The people who live next but one to us have solved problems like this by
covering the garden in concrete and removing the hedge.



Yes, thank you Martin that would probably work - silly me, i hadn't
thought of that :)

Janet
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

worms and lawns
 

On Tue, 21 Sep 2010 12:34:24 +0100, Janet Tweedy
wrote:

I know the chemicals that you once could use to discourage worm casts
have now been 'struck off' but is there nay other way that you can
deter them?

I have to cut a very large lawn and there's an immense amount of
womcasts on the surface at the moment.
Funnily enough the front lawn which i scarified way back in the spring
has few cats on it but the back looks terrible with splodges of squashed
soil all over it and which are now killing the grass in patches.

Yes i know that worms are good esp3cially the ones in the compost but
just wanted to know if you have found anything that deters them from
the surface of lawns/

Janet

The worms don't like acid soil, though the lawn will grow happily, so
something that lowers the pH would help. Maybe a lawn treatment using
Vitax Sulphate of Iron or a similar product in the early spring and
then about every 6 weeks. It's soluble so you just water or spray it
on. Probably too late to do anything effective now.

I've also head that getting a mole or two will rapidly reduce the worm
problem. And the resulting molehills are much easier to spot so you
don't end up squashing them all and messing up the surrounding grass
;-))

Jake

worms and lawns
 

Martin wrote in
:

On Tue, 21 Sep 2010 12:43:35 +0100, Janet Tweedy
wrote:

In article , Martin
writes
The people who live next but one to us have solved problems like this
by covering the garden in concrete and removing the hedge.



Yes, thank you Martin that would probably work - silly me, i hadn't
thought of that :)

Before the concrete, the garden, which was made by the previous
owners, was beautiful. I don't understand why they didn't buy a large
flat with a balcony if they wanted concrete.

Maybe the price was right.
Now is the time to buy, whatever state the garden is, and alter however you
feel fit.
Not everybody feels the same way we do regarding flower and fauna.
Each to their own eh?
I personally hate "car parks" but there is always one isnt there.

Part_No

worms and lawns
 

Jake wrote in
:

On Tue, 21 Sep 2010 12:34:24 +0100, Janet Tweedy
wrote:

I know the chemicals that you once could use to discourage worm casts
have now been 'struck off' but is there nay other way that you can
deter them?

I have to cut a very large lawn and there's an immense amount of
womcasts on the surface at the moment.
Funnily enough the front lawn which i scarified way back in the spring
has few cats on it but the back looks terrible with splodges of squashed
soil all over it and which are now killing the grass in patches.

Yes i know that worms are good esp3cially the ones in the compost but
just wanted to know if you have found anything that deters them from
the surface of lawns/

Janet

The worms don't like acid soil, though the lawn will grow happily, so
something that lowers the pH would help. Maybe a lawn treatment using
Vitax Sulphate of Iron or a similar product in the early spring and
then about every 6 weeks. It's soluble so you just water or spray it
on. Probably too late to do anything effective now.

I've also head that getting a mole or two will rapidly reduce the worm
problem. And the resulting molehills are much easier to spot so you
don't end up squashing them all and messing up the surrounding grass
;-))

Jake


On the other hand, I have heard that worm castes are good material for the
compst heap. Or to use to germinate your seeds.
Is this an old wives tale?

worms and lawns
 

Martin wrote in
:

On Tue, 21 Sep 2010 15:07:52 GMT, "Part_No" wrote:

Martin wrote in
m:

On Tue, 21 Sep 2010 12:43:35 +0100, Janet Tweedy
wrote:

In article , Martin
writes
The people who live next but one to us have solved problems like
this by covering the garden in concrete and removing the hedge.



Yes, thank you Martin that would probably work - silly me, i hadn't
thought of that :)

Before the concrete, the garden, which was made by the previous
owners, was beautiful. I don't understand why they didn't buy a
large flat with a balcony if they wanted concrete.

Maybe the price was right.
Now is the time to buy,

Hardly, house prices are just below the peak value.

whatever state the garden is, and alter however you
feel fit.
Not everybody feels the same way we do regarding flower and fauna.
Each to their own eh?
I personally hate "car parks" but there is always one isnt there.

The garden/concrete slab isn't accessible to cars.

A flat of the same floor area is about half the price of a house in
this part of Holland. The land is very expensive in Holland.

Sorry I thought that this group was all about gardening in the UK hence the
name of the group.

I know nothing about Holland nor do I want to.

Part_no

worms and lawns
 

On Tue, 21 Sep 2010 15:25:14 GMT, "Part_No" wrote:

Jake wrote in
:

OP snipped

The worms don't like acid soil, though the lawn will grow happily, so
something that lowers the pH would help. Maybe a lawn treatment using
Vitax Sulphate of Iron or a similar product in the early spring and
then about every 6 weeks. It's soluble so you just water or spray it
on. Probably too late to do anything effective now.

I've also head that getting a mole or two will rapidly reduce the worm
problem. And the resulting molehills are much easier to spot so you
don't end up squashing them all and messing up the surrounding grass
;-))

Jake


On the other hand, I have heard that worm castes are good material for the
compst heap. Or to use to germinate your seeds.
Is this an old wives tale?

I think that this relates to the solid material you get out of a worm
composter when the greedy little things have chomped their way through
your kitchen waste. Casts in lawns are really pretty standard soil,
fine textured when dry but in tiny quantities so easier to just
spread them with a besom (I only use one of those rather than a broom
as I inherited one and found it wouldn't take off for me!). When you
think of it you'd need a lawn looking like the surface of the moon to
produce enough worm cast material to make a difference to the average
compost heap!

Jake

worms and lawns
 

In message , Janet Tweedy
writes
I know the chemicals that you once could use to discourage worm casts
have now been 'struck off' but is there nay other way that you can
deter them?

I have to cut a very large lawn and there's an immense amount of
womcasts on the surface at the moment.
Funnily enough the front lawn which i scarified way back in the spring
has few cats on it but the back looks terrible with splodges of
squashed soil all over it and which are now killing the grass in patches.

Yes i know that worms are good esp3cially the ones in the compost but
just wanted to know if you have found anything that deters them from
the surface of lawns/

Janet

Not a direct answer, but there is a bowling green behind our houses, and
the greenkeeper[1] used to have a long, whippy flexible cane which he
swiped back and forth across the green to remove worm casts. It
scattered them rather than leave blotches where they had been trodden
down. Have you got a whip? :)

[1] Way back when they had a permanent park keeper.
--
Gordon H
Remove "invalid" to reply

worms and lawns
 

"Part_No" wrote in message
...
Martin wrote in
:

On Tue, 21 Sep 2010 15:07:52 GMT, "Part_No" wrote:

Martin wrote in
:

On Tue, 21 Sep 2010 12:43:35 +0100, Janet Tweedy
wrote:

In article , Martin
writes
The people who live next but one to us have solved problems like
this by covering the garden in concrete and removing the hedge.



Yes, thank you Martin that would probably work - silly me, i hadn't
thought of that :)

Before the concrete, the garden, which was made by the previous
owners, was beautiful. I don't understand why they didn't buy a
large flat with a balcony if they wanted concrete.

Maybe the price was right.
Now is the time to buy,

Hardly, house prices are just below the peak value.

whatever state the garden is, and alter however you
feel fit.
Not everybody feels the same way we do regarding flower and fauna.
Each to their own eh?
I personally hate "car parks" but there is always one isnt there.

The garden/concrete slab isn't accessible to cars.

A flat of the same floor area is about half the price of a house in
this part of Holland. The land is very expensive in Holland.

Sorry I thought that this group was all about gardening in the UK hence
the
name of the group.

I know nothing about Holland nor do I want to.

Part_no

You are fairly new on here, aren't you? There are several ex-pats who like
to contribute to the group. I see no problem with that.
Tina

worms and lawns
 

On Tue, 21 Sep 2010 18:23:21 +0100, Gordon H
wrote:

In message , Janet Tweedy
writes
I know the chemicals that you once could use to discourage worm casts
have now been 'struck off' but is there nay other way that you can
deter them?

I have to cut a very large lawn and there's an immense amount of
womcasts on the surface at the moment.
Funnily enough the front lawn which i scarified way back in the spring
has few cats on it but the back looks terrible with splodges of
squashed soil all over it and which are now killing the grass in patches.

Yes i know that worms are good esp3cially the ones in the compost but
just wanted to know if you have found anything that deters them from
the surface of lawns/

Janet

Not a direct answer, but there is a bowling green behind our houses, and
the greenkeeper[1] used to have a long, whippy flexible cane which he
swiped back and forth across the green to remove worm casts. It
scattered them rather than leave blotches where they had been trodden
down. Have you got a whip? :)

Are you sure he was removing worm casts?

The green keepers prevent these happening on bowling greens and golf
greens.

He was probably whipping the surface to remove the dew.


--
(¯`·. ®óñ© © ²°¹° .·´¯)

worms and lawns
 

"®óñ© © ²°¹°" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 21 Sep 2010 18:23:21 +0100, Gordon H
wrote:

In message , Janet Tweedy
writes
I know the chemicals that you once could use to discourage worm casts
have now been 'struck off' but is there nay other way that you can
deter them?

I have to cut a very large lawn and there's an immense amount of
womcasts on the surface at the moment.
Funnily enough the front lawn which i scarified way back in the spring
has few cats on it but the back looks terrible with splodges of
squashed soil all over it and which are now killing the grass in patches.

few ways to combat this
1.dragbrush the lawn before cutting
2. put down lime to change the ph
3. spray a systemic fungicide at half the dose

worms and lawns
 

Janet Tweedy wrote:

I know the chemicals that you once could use to discourage worm casts
have now been 'struck off' but is there nay other way that you can
deter them?


i could loan you a few Badgers ;(
\0

worms and lawns
 

In message , ®óñ© © ²°¹°
writes
On Tue, 21 Sep 2010 18:23:21 +0100, Gordon H
wrote:

In message , Janet Tweedy
writes
I know the chemicals that you once could use to discourage worm casts
have now been 'struck off' but is there nay other way that you can
deter them?

I have to cut a very large lawn and there's an immense amount of
womcasts on the surface at the moment.
Funnily enough the front lawn which i scarified way back in the spring
has few cats on it but the back looks terrible with splodges of
squashed soil all over it and which are now killing the grass in patches.

Yes i know that worms are good esp3cially the ones in the compost but
just wanted to know if you have found anything that deters them from
the surface of lawns/

Janet

Not a direct answer, but there is a bowling green behind our houses, and
the greenkeeper[1] used to have a long, whippy flexible cane which he
swiped back and forth across the green to remove worm casts. It
scattered them rather than leave blotches where they had been trodden
down. Have you got a whip? :)

Are you sure he was removing worm casts?

The green keepers prevent these happening on bowling greens and golf
greens.

He was probably whipping the surface to remove the dew.

That did occur to me just as I posted! :-)
The green now gets the cursory visits from a contracted company,
although it is still in fair condition.
--
Gordon H
Remove "invalid" to reply

worms and lawns
 

"Christina Websell" wrote in
:


"Part_No" wrote in message
...
Martin wrote in
:

On Tue, 21 Sep 2010 15:07:52 GMT, "Part_No" wrote:

Martin wrote in
m:

On Tue, 21 Sep 2010 12:43:35 +0100, Janet Tweedy
wrote:

In article , Martin
writes
The people who live next but one to us have solved problems like
this by covering the garden in concrete and removing the hedge.



Yes, thank you Martin that would probably work - silly me, i
hadn't thought of that :)

Before the concrete, the garden, which was made by the previous
owners, was beautiful. I don't understand why they didn't buy a
large flat with a balcony if they wanted concrete.

Maybe the price was right.
Now is the time to buy,

Hardly, house prices are just below the peak value.

whatever state the garden is, and alter however you
feel fit.
Not everybody feels the same way we do regarding flower and fauna.
Each to their own eh?
I personally hate "car parks" but there is always one isnt there.

The garden/concrete slab isn't accessible to cars.

A flat of the same floor area is about half the price of a house in
this part of Holland. The land is very expensive in Holland.

Sorry I thought that this group was all about gardening in the UK
hence the
name of the group.

I know nothing about Holland nor do I want to.

Part_no

You are fairly new on here, aren't you? There are several ex-pats who
like to contribute to the group. I see no problem with that.
Tina





Whether I am fairly new, newbie new or an old contributer to this group
it does not matter.
The title of this newsgroup is uk.rec.garening .
Ex-pats are EX-PATS, and do not belong here. They gave up their right to
our country and they must live that way in whatever country gave them a
home.
It gets confusing when some ex-pat is giving information reletive to
their adopted country and has no relevence here(in this UK newsgroup).

Part_No

I think that comment demonstrates that it is *you* that does not belong on this newsgroup

worms and lawns
 

In message , Part_No
writes

Whether I am fairly new, newbie new or an old contributer to this group
it does not matter.
The title of this newsgroup is uk.rec.garening .

No it isn't, and you're not a contributer, your a contributor.
--
Gordon H
Remove "invalid" to reply

worms and lawns
 

In message , Martin
writes
On Wed, 22 Sep 2010 11:43:21 +0100, Gordon H
wrote:
snip

The green now gets the cursory visits from a contracted company,
although it is still in fair condition.

Despite the company being downsized?

Yes, the concertina shape of their vehicles does not seem to affect
their workmanship.
--
Gordon H
Remove "invalid" to reply

worms and lawns
 

In article , pied piper
writes
1.dragbrush the lawn before cutting
2. put down lime to change the ph
3. spray a systemic fungicide at half the dose


Hmm have tried the first, the lawn is about 900 sq metres. -


!. I'm assuming dragbrush is just that, drag a brush around behind you
all over the lawn? i don't think that is particularly useful because if
you are dragging a brush the bristles aren't coming down square onto the
womcasts and therefore don't clear them particularly well.


2 We live in a very high pH area in the Chilterns so the lawn is already
very alkaline.

3. that i could do, but as most of the effective stuff has been dragged
off the market and nursery shelves would you recommend anything that is
currently available?

Janet

--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

worms and lawns
 

On Wed, 22 Sep 2010 16:28:22 +0100, Janet Tweedy
wrote:

In article , pied piper
writes
1.dragbrush the lawn before cutting
2. put down lime to change the ph
3. spray a systemic fungicide at half the dose


Hmm have tried the first, the lawn is about 900 sq metres. -


!. I'm assuming dragbrush is just that, drag a brush around behind you
all over the lawn? i don't think that is particularly useful because if
you are dragging a brush the bristles aren't coming down square onto the
womcasts and therefore don't clear them particularly well.


2 We live in a very high pH area in the Chilterns so the lawn is already
very alkaline.

3. that i could do, but as most of the effective stuff has been dragged
off the market and nursery shelves would you recommend anything that is
currently available?

Janet

Interesting debate looms - everything I've read says that you should
lower the pH, not raise it, to discourage worms - aiming for a pH of
between 5 and 6. I've got my main lawn area down to that level and
rarely find a worm cast on it.

Earlier this year, another area of lawn survived through the drought
well but browned over the day after it rained and I couldn't work out
why. Having been through everything else I tested the pH and found it
a lot higher. I've been feeding it a lot and it's recovered but gets a
lot of worm activity. So I'll be treating it to reduce the pH in the
spring.

Jake

worms and lawns
 

"Part_No" wrote in message
...
"Christina Websell" wrote in
:
You are fairly new on here, aren't you? There are several ex-pats who
like to contribute to the group. I see no problem with that.
Tina





Whether I am fairly new, newbie new or an old contributer to this group
it does not matter.

Ah, but it does matter when you are rude and you are going along a path
where you will find yourself ignored on here if you are not careful.
This is a nice friendly group. Please keep it so.
Tina

worms and lawns
 

On 09/22/2010 06:15 PM, Jake wrote:
[]
Interesting debate looms - everything I've read says that you should
lower the pH, not raise it, to discourage worms - aiming for a pH of
between 5 and 6. I've got my main lawn area down to that level and
rarely find a worm cast on it.


Hi Jake,

I've no idea what official wisdom is on the subject, but all of my earth
has a pH below 6 -- near 5 in spots -- and I've always got plenty of
worm cast on the lawn.

The cast is a little unsightly but I figure the lawn is being aerated.
It's voles (and moles of course) that do me in. The cat is getting
older, no longer spends as much time vole hunting, bless her.

-E

Time to get her training her understudy, then :-)

worms and lawns
 

"Janet Tweedy" wrote in message
...
In article , pied piper
writes
1.dragbrush the lawn before cutting
2. put down lime to change the ph
3. spray a systemic fungicide at half the dose


Hmm have tried the first, the lawn is about 900 sq metres. -


!. I'm assuming dragbrush is just that, drag a brush around behind you all
over the lawn? i don't think that is particularly useful because if you
are dragging a brush the bristles aren't coming down square onto the
womcasts and therefore don't clear them particularly well.


2 We live in a very high pH area in the Chilterns so the lawn is already
very alkaline.

3. that i could do, but as most of the effective stuff has been dragged
off the market and nursery shelves would you recommend anything that is
currently available?

Janet

ask your local greenkeeper drag brush has to be at least 6ft or
alternatively a metal drag mat will have the desired effect a switch(whip)
will also work or a beesom broom I buy my fungicide from trade sports turf
companies not sure if available off the shelf

worms and lawns
 

On Tue, 21 Sep 2010 12:34:24 +0100, Janet Tweedy
wrote:

I know the chemicals that you once could use to discourage worm casts
have now been 'struck off' but is there nay other way that you can
deter them?

I have to cut a very large lawn and there's an immense amount of
womcasts on the surface at the moment.
Funnily enough the front lawn which i scarified way back in the spring
has few cats on it but the back looks terrible with splodges of squashed
soil all over it and which are now killing the grass in patches.

Yes i know that worms are good esp3cially the ones in the compost but
just wanted to know if you have found anything that deters them from
the surface of lawns/

Janet


Blackbirds.
--
http://www.bra-and-pants.com
http://www.holidayunder100.co.uk

worms and lawns
 

In article , pied piper
writes
ask your local greenkeeper drag brush has to be at least 6ft or
alternatively a metal drag mat will have the desired effect a
switch(whip) will also work or a beesom broom


Got a broom, worm casts too 'clayey' too brush off easily Would be okay
if they were very dry i guess.
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

worms and lawns
 

"Janet Tweedy" wrote in message
...
I know the chemicals that you once could use to discourage worm casts have
now been 'struck off' but is there nay other way that you can deter them?

I have to cut a very large lawn and there's an immense amount of womcasts
on the surface at the moment.
Funnily enough the front lawn which i scarified way back in the spring has
few cats on it but the back looks terrible with splodges of squashed soil
all over it and which are now killing the grass in patches.

Never step on the worm casts - instead brush them away with a besom.

Bill