A Tsawwassen resident is grateful that so far, her lawn has escaped the plague of European chafer beetles that are devouring some of her neighbours’ lawns and turning them into mud pits.
But Kirsti Mattson is wondering why the City of Delta doesn’t help with controlling the nasty pest.
“I’d like the city to take charge of the situation,” Mattson said, adding she wants better communication and says the city should explain to residents what it’s doing and consider an eradication plan.
Mattson says that more than a dozen homes nearby on 10A Avenue have had their lawns dug up by raccoons and crows that are looking for the creepy white beetle larvae, about 1.5-centimetres long, that live just below the surface.
The larvae hatch in June and in turn munch on the grass roots throughout the fall, winter, and spring, destroying lawns from below.
“We don’t know why we escaped,” she said of her lawn noting that across the street her neighbour had to replace their lawns entirely.
She said one neighbour has dug up his entire lawn and replaced it with turf but, “we have no idea if he’s going to have the same problem again next year.”
Once a lawn is infested, the beetle larvae can be killed by either applying microscopic nematodes that kill the larvae. However, specific steps and conditions must be followed for the process to work. But that process requires regular watering and for the homeowner to get a watering permit, Mattson points out.
She said it shouldn’t be up to residents to bear the cost of fighting the pest.
Another option is applying a biological pesticide called Btg, permitted under Delta’s Pesticide Use Control Bylaw.
So far, her lawn is unaffected, and she doesn’t know why, but she said that if her lawn does get ruined, she’ll replace it with gravel.
She said people spend hours working on their landscaping.
“All of us have beautiful lawns and gardens, but I’m beginning to think that maybe we shouldn’t be having lawns in Tsawwassen anymore, which would be sad,” she said.
Nearby residents have discussed it and have come to a consensus that they’ll give it one more year and if the lawns are still damaged, they’ll just put down gravel to replace the lawn.
According to Kevin Li, senior environmental officer with the City of Delta, the beetle infestations aren’t necessarily getting worse, but they just continue to spread after first being seen in New Westminster in 2001, adding that the beetles have been in North Delta for more than 10 years.
“It’s an invasive species, so the problem is that there’s no control,” apart from raccoons and crows tearing up lawns to eat up the larvae, so climate change doesn’t have a major aspect to it, that I know of,” although it may speed up the life cycle of the larvae.
“They (beetles) do like the lawns that are less well maintained,” he said.
However, properties with well-maintained lawns also have infestations, he said.
The City of Delta’s website says that damage by the beetle is minimized by having a healthy lawn with deep roots. Aerating, dethatching, over seeding, liming, proper fertilizing, and high mowing are actions that promote strong growth, said the city. Watering’s also important, although summer watering restrictions must also be followed.
Li added that the larvae prefer the traditional turf grass that’s found in most lawns, so one step could be changing the mix of grass seed to include micro clover, or other types of seeds, so the lawn is not as attractive to the beetle.
He said if people choose to use the biological pesticides, timing of applications is crucial, adding that the nematodes are not as effective and that Btg is now the most popular method.
But homeowners can think about other options for landscaping such as planting rock gardens, a water landscape, shrubs, trees, vegetable gardens or fruit trees, Li said, referring to Metro Vancouver’s Grow Green Guide (growgreenguide.ca) online.
He’s been dealing with beetles for 15 years and notes that after a first wave of beetle infestation, successive waves are not as intense.
He keeps his own lawn long in the summer and adds top dressing in the winter.
In addition, ensuring a lawn remains healthy and pest free takes a lot of work.
“If you really want to keep a grass lawn, then you have to really care for it … because it’s always going to be a potential target for attack,” he said.
