Asked on Mar 31, 2014

How to stop worms from crawling onto my concrete patio after a rain?

Bizz
by Bizz
It's Spring in NC and the worms have begun crawling onto my patio after a hard rain. I know that it is natural for them to do so but how do I stop them? I tried putting a plastic edging border against the concrete thinking that would provide a barrier; it didn't. I then added rock salt in between the edging and concrete; that didn't help. The worms end up dying and I have to scrape them off of the concrete. I'll try just about anything. Thank you in advance. Deborah Milstead
  4 answers
  • Douglas Hunt Douglas Hunt on Apr 01, 2014
    Your barrier isn't tall enough. Heavy rains saturate the soil, making it more difficult for worms to breathe, so they are highly motivated to find drier spots.
  • Bizz Bizz on Apr 01, 2014
    Thanks for the answers, but I'm still hoping for more ideas. The edging that I'm using is 4 inches wide with one inch stuck in the ground up against the concrete patio. The concrete is uneven so that is when I thought rock salt would work but it didn't. What material and what height do I need to keep the worms from climbing over the barrier? Should I fill in the narrow gap between the concrete and edging?
  • Douglas Hunt Douglas Hunt on Apr 02, 2014
    I think you're just going to have to experiment and see what works in your personal situation. Perhaps metal edging instead of the plastic.
  • Bmcgnh Bmcgnh on Jul 28, 2015
    They were coming under the screen door onto our lanai, dozens of them after a heavy rain. I tired a line of Kosher salt under the screen door and that keeps them out but it does leave a little bit of a soggy mess to sweep away the next day.