Wildlife Gardens Worms

Is there more than one type of worm? esearch suggests that there are at least a million different kinds of worm. They can be found in fresh water, in sea water, as parasites in plants and animals, in the food we eat, in our own bodies, and of course in the earth. In a garden, the two most common types are earthworms, which live in and condition the open soil, and composting worms, which can be brought in specially to speed up the composting process.

Eisenia foetida
Brandling, Red Wiggler, Tiger Worm

Size – 15 cm (6 in) long.
Comments – Lives on or near the surface of the compost in a wormery; does not tunnel into the ground; eats its own weight in moist organic matter
every 24 hours.

Lumbricus terrestris
Common Earthworm

Size – 10–30 cm (4–12 in) long.
Comments – Takes plant matter down into the soil to eat. Research suggests that earthworm numbers are a measure of the world’s well-being, with lots of earthworms equating with a healthy planet. Research suggests that the average country garden of 0.1 hectares (¼ acre) might contain anything up to a million worms.

WORM COMPOSTING

This is a method of recycling organic waste and turning it into a valuable planting material, and it is usually faster than just leaving compost to its own devices. You need to buy a ‘wormery’, which is a special type of compost container, and must use suitable composting worms (not earthworms from your garden), commonly known as tiger worms, among other names (see above left).

The number of worms you will need (they can be obtained by mail order), depend on the size of the wormery that you have bought; the producers generally recommend about 4,000 worms for a large set-up.

The worms will eat most organic kitchen waste – teabags, fruit, bread and cereals, for example. However, you must not give them garlic, potato peelings, food that has been treated with chemicals, or vinegar. The worms are hermaphrodite, and will breed freely within the wormery. If fed on a regular basis, the wormery will thrive and produce excellent garden compost.