Question
We live in Orange County, Southern California and both our front and back lawns are Tifgreen.

HELP!!
Our back lawn is fine, but recently we noticed that in the morning our front lawn has many, many little "dirt" clumps over the entire lawn - it is as if something is burrowning in or burrowing out.
Is it worms coming out at night - or birds looking for worms at night - or something else?
We would really like to solve this problem and prevent this from happening - but we don't know what it might be or how to correct the situation.
As i said, it is not happening in our back yard - only in the front yard!  Please help!!

Thank You!


Answer
Hi Chuck Connor,


>>"....little "dirt" clumps ..."

What you describe sounds to me like 'earth-worm castings'.  There are several other insects and insect-larvae that can cause similar small mounds of soil on the dirt surface, but usually it is the common earthworm.

Normally, an abundance of earthworms is a sign of a fertile-loamy top-soil and root-zone and to have these soil conditions would inspire envy in many gardeners.  The earthworms aerate and churn the soil and add valuable nutrients and organic matter.  They are Nature's 'little roto-tillers' that will work 24/7 to make the soil more fertile.  However, occasionally their top-side castings or "dirt-clumps" (as you describe) deposited on the surface can become a nuisance and eye-soar when these are everywhere on the scene.  A few castings is no big-deal, but there can sometimes be hundreds of castings.  Sometimes these are also described as similar in appearance to tiny-volcanoes.  With a tall-grass turf they are not all so  noticeable; ... with a fine hybrid Burmuda or Dichondra lawn,...they can really detract from the carpet-like lawn we want to see. Except for their appearance, they pose no threat or harm to anything.

I know of no commercial pesticide product that is a remedy for an abundance of castings in the lawn.  Attracting wild birds to the are should contribute to a decrease in earthworm populations and so too less castings. Encouraging any worm-eating natural animals like toads, frogs, garden-snakes, lizards,...etc., will also decrease worm numbers.

 You may try adding some 'silica-sand' to the top-soil along with some Diatomaceous Earth ('DE'),...these minerals make life difficult for any invertebrates and larval insects in the root-zone.  They act like razor-blades to damage the worm's outer-skin or internal organs,... so this may eradicate some of the worms the birds don't eat.  DE can be obtained from places That Sell Swimming Pool Or Aquarium Supplies (it Is Used In The Filters).  Fine "Silica Sand" can be found with janitorial supply companies or places that deal in Japanese Garden supplies. Normal sand is not fine-enough.

Having a drier more aerated and solarized top-soil will also help.
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