where is Euorpean Chafer Beetle Damage around Vancouver, BC

Discussion in 'Outdoor Gardening in the Pacific Northwest' started by growing4it, Feb 6, 2010.

  1. growing4it

    growing4it Active Member 10 Years

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    vancouver to langley, bc
    I am curious to know if forum members know of a map of Chafer Beetle damage around Vancouver BC. I've seen damage if Burnaby BC and I'm starting to see damage in Vancouver. How extensive is the invasion? Is there a way for forum members to contribute to something like a google-map to identify ECB infestations?

    What are the costs associated with repairing ECB damage? I'm trying to development an argument against more lawn turf as an inexpensive alternative to shrub and groundcover planting.

    Thanks
     
  2. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    Lawns are more expensive anyway. Look at all the years of mowing, watering and fertilizing etc. A successful groundcover planting can be almost not work for long periods of time.
     
  3. mwiens

    mwiens New Member

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    I am a landscaper working in Vancouver. In response to high interest from the public, a lack of other information, an abundance of free time in the winter and interest on my part, our company has started a surveying project. Our goal is to survey on foot every residential home on the west side of Vancouver. We are documenting the extent of the damage, as well as taking pictures and uploading all the information to our website. To date we have surveyed the area from Oak Street to Pacific Spirit Park, from 49th to 16th Ave, and are hoping to be able to finish the entire west side. From what I can tell, we are the only ones to take on such a project. Feel free to visit the map, which to be honest at this point is a bit rough as we just don;t have the time to make it too use friendly. www.communitylawncare.ca/chaferbeetle
     
  4. Chris Morris

    Chris Morris Active Member 10 Years

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    Just my two cents, I know it started in New Westminster in 2001 and I first noticed it in south Burnaby in 2002. It was in north Burnaby where I live in 2004 and east Vancouver by 2005. They seemed to be moving further west every year. I know they are in Coquitlam now, and have been for some years and are probably in just about every other city in the Lower Mainland by now.

    It's very strange how they seem to hit certain areas and not others. I can remember delivering flyers to houses in north Burnaby in 2010 where the damage was extremely extensive to the neighborhood north of Hastings street, with some blocks having nearly every lawn damaged, but south of Hastings street had hardly a lawn touched.

    I have the beetles buzzing around some of my trees to mate every June when the sun is going down but I've only had my lawn damaged once, with an area about 4FT X 4FT that had to be re seeded. That was in around 2005 when they seemed to be at their peak in north Burnaby. I have a large Western Hemlock tree in my front yard and around 2005 or so there were easily tens of thousands, if not one hundred thousand swarming around my tree every night for weeks, you could grab them out of the air, or they would be constantly flying into you if you stood near the tree, now I would say for the last few years there are only several hundred or maybe just over one thousand flying around the tree every night in June.
     

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