No worms.

I've dug a patch but there were hardly any worms. Will putting a good layer of composted bark mulch over it sort the problem?

Will the worms just come or should I introduce them myself?

 

Dig in garden compost, manure, dried manure etc. Hoofy. Not convinced bark will be as good. Grow green manure too.
The more "goodness" in the top soil the more worms you will have there. Far better than introducing worms...in fact, if the soil remains poor, without improving, the worms will disappear
How about a photo of the soil you have dug

 

I'll get a picture tomorrow before the bark goes on. When I dug it, it looked pretty good to me, apart from it having no worms. It was pretty uniform in texture, very easy to break up, and no rocks or clay. Nice colour too, but someone who knows what they're on about might beg to differ.

I was planning to put a ton of the bark mulch on, which I've already bought (smells lovely and sweet and nice and steaming) and I was planning on putting more compost on in the spring.

 

Just a thought, but is the soil very dry? I know that the worms in my soil seem to 'disappear' in the summer and early autumn, but reappear near the surface once the soil becomes damp. Ease of movement, I suppose

 

Have I dropped a clanger.

The mulch doesn't look like bark, it's very well rotted. Looks like compost to me.

I haven't put it on yet, I've just made a pile at the back of the bed. What should I do?

All I'm trying to do is improve the soil to grow better plants.

 

That might be it. I really don't know, maybe they will come back.

 

There are usually more than one type of worm in the soil. These have their own level in which they live. All worms need moisture as they soon dry out and die. Periods of persitant dry weather and lack of rainfall, the worms will go deeper and appear to vanish. In severe dry spells the worms could still lack enough moisture to survive and that's it.

 

So my new plan is to leave the pile of mulch and get some well rotted manure. Dig the manure in and then put the mulch over the top.

Should I put the mulch over as soon as I've put on the manure, or leave the mulch in the pile until the spring?

 

Isnt horse manure full of weed seed? We are always told if you let horses graze in your field you will have plenty thistles and weeds growing in the following years ?

 

Yes. Always a concern. I once used Alpaca poo and was not happy to have loads of weeds enjoy germinating from it and also benenfiting from it! There was one piece of poo that came in handy. A lump just the right size to plug a rodent hole ...