Worms in My Flower Bed

Night Crawler

• The night crawler (L. terrestris) is the workhorse of the garden. This worm tunnels as deep as 6 feet or more into the soil, carrying decayed leaves and leaving castings down where they enrich the deeper layers of soil and benefit trees and other deep-rooted plants with their activities. Although they prefer large, open areas such as lawns and fields for their home, these worms also live in flower gardens. In addition to shifting minerals up and organic matter down through the soil, the tunnels of these larger worms trap water and help to preserve moisture between watering.

Earthworm

• The common earthworm (Aporrectodea tuberculata), often also called the garden worm, moves material through the soil in much the same manner as the night crawler. One significant difference between the two types is that while the night crawler digs down deep, the earthworm lives much nearer to the surface. Its tunnels are much shallower and tend to be semi-horizontal, traveling under the roots of many different flowers. Their castings are available to plants in the flower bed that do not have very deep root systems. Their tunnels also help catch and hold pollutants washed into the ground by rain or watering, minimizing the amount of chemicals that reach lakes and streams.

Red Worms

• Several types of red worms exist, but one of the more common types is the red wiggler (Lumbricus rubellus). These small, active worms are familiar to fishermen as bait. They are also commonly placed in containers, and there they assist in the composting of household food scraps, turning old lettuce, coffee grounds and other leftovers into rich compost for the flower garden. Many gardeners prefer to place red wigglers directly into their flower beds, then place the scraps on top of the soil, where the worms will consume it at night. The nutrients from those scraps then become immediately available to the flowers.

Imposters

• Sometimes gardeners will see unidentified worms in their flower beds that don't seem to look like other garden worms. Upon investigation, these are usually found to be something other than actual worms, even though they have similarities. One of the most common imposters is a grub that is the larva of the Japanese beetle (Popillia japonica Newman). These are white and, while they look a lot like worms, will curl up into a "C" if disturbed. Unlike worms, these grubs do damage by eating the roots of the plants in the flower bed and should be eradicated if they are seen.