The City of Delta is resorting to using traditional herbicides to deal with invasive plants infesting several athletic parks in the community.
A recent staff report to council notes that parks operations and the Climate Action and Environment department reviewed invasive plant species infestations at John Oliver Park, North Delta Community Park, Dugald Morrison Park and Hawthorne Park to assess and determine the options for management of the turfgrass athletic fields.
While Delta's Pesticide Use Control Bylaw does not allow for the continued use of traditional herbicide treatments for maintenance purposes, it does provide an exemption for treatment if the invasive species population reaches a level where there is a significant loss to the use of the property and/or impacts safety and playability.
According to the report, the infestation of invasive plant species in the form of dandelion, broad and narrow leaf plantain, clover and knotweed are well above the acceptable thresholds and are compromising the usability of the athletic fields.
“Staff investigated various ways to address the invasive plant issues based on Integrated Pest Management best practices. Staff also researched existing practices in neighbouring municipalities and found that selective herbicides were used on high priority sports fields in other cities to treat invasive weeds and maintain quality turfgrass stands where there are severe infestations,” said the report.
The application of selective herbicides at the parks was scheduled for early this month and takes place on weekday mornings by a licensed applicator who will follow all safety regulations set out by the province and the Ministry of Environment.
Staff will monitor conditions to eliminate the possibility of drift and treated fields would be closed for use for several hours following application.
