Worms and ground beetles may seem scary, but they’re our friends. Night crawlers help make the soil fertile, and black ground beetles help keep other bugs at bay by eating them alive. How can you encourage these little workers?
Feed and house them by letting leaves lie on the soil, making a layer of mulch that also lets you spend less time raking and more time enjoying your garden bounty. Each handful of soil enhanced by leafy mulch can contain 5-10 billion creatures that help your garden grow. You can keep them busy by composting, too, and avoiding pesticides and fast-acting fertilizers. The added benefit of having lots of life in your soil and mulch is that they will attract and feed songbirds who in turn munch on garden pests.