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OK ~ here comes another dumb question.....
Would the standard "weed ki11ers you buy in the store ki11 the worms and other insects too, if used on the all the weeds? Is there an "organic" weed ki11er that wouldn't harm the worms? (I know it's a dumb question, but I don't know the answer and I've been wondering forever....)

Wavy!!... c'mere and lemme smak ya!!!... there are NO dumb questions!!!...

what hurts the worms is the grub killers that are used in the yard by those who don't read the directions!....if it kills worms, it should say so on the label!!...

here's a lot to read about wormies, but there's really good info on pesticides there, too...

http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/freepubs/pdfs/uc182.pdf

in the "Conclusion" you can read this...
"Some pesticides, especially
organophosphates and carbamates, are toxic to
earthworms. Most herbicides do not pose a threat
to earthworms."

also...if you're shooting weeds one by one, there's little damage to the wormies.... if you're spreading a whole load of the stuff over the lawn, you're likely to impact the worm population......

Rider, no, there's no such thing as a dumb question in gardening.
Modern science has come up with a method of killing weeds and not harming natural grasses. that inhabit our lawns. That's one good point.
However, its probably the only good point. Anything that can harm a weed also has to --common sense tells us, it has to harm the soil and what's in it. Worms are as susceptible as any other living thing in the soil.
What you have to do is decide how much harm you cam put up with at the expense of getting rid of weeds.
Hand spraying the individual weed might be considered a way of guarding the worms.

If a lawn has been ignored for many moons, its probably a good bet that there are very few worms to kill. Adding organic matter is one of the ways to invite worms to stay and improves the soil in many other ways.

Wavie....what Toots said!

ditto!


ve

Thank you Toots, for your wormy information. Very informative!
I guess the only 'dumb question' is the one never asked!