What started as crow damage became skunk damage and our lawn has been destroyed: big chunks and strips of grass peeled back in the search for chafer beetle larvae, no doubt. What are my non-toxic, organic options for renovation and repair?
Have a read! Why Are Crows Ruining My Lawn! (a.k.a. Living with European Chafer Beetle in Vancouver) | UBC Botanical Garden
Many years ago when the crows first started ripping up the boulevards I noticed a chunk of sod missing from our lawn so we bought a bunch of the cheap dollar store garden netting and spread it out over the lawn, staking it off the ground about 4". This seemed to deter the critters, I guess they didn't want to walk on the netting. We left the netting for several months and let the grass grow long. Once we removed the netting we kept the grass long for the rest of that year. Since then we have not had any problems with critters even though they are still digging up the neighbors lawns and the boulevard......and I know we have the grubs because I find them any time I do any gardening work.
We would like to try overseeding with the mix that's mentioned in this article. Is it available for purchase?
Not directly from us, but I suspect it is available at some of the local vendors. I'll ask the article's author.
You may want to check out the Cover Crops at West Coast Seeds. Perhaps a similar blend could be made by mixing multiple products. They also have a Chafer Beetle Resistant Lawn Blend but the link appears to be dead.
Reply received from Kerrie (the author of the above-linked article): For the open lawn seed mix we combined three sources; - Grass Seed Shade Mix: Any general shade mix primarily made up of fescues with some perennial rye will work well. We used a Evergrow's Shade Mix (farm supply wholesaler) with 35% perennial rye, 40% chewings fescue and 25% creeping red fescue. When buying grass, a reputable company will identify the mixture contents in percentages on the packaging. -Micro clover (Trifolium repens var pipolina): We used the coasted seed from West Coast seeds, equal to 4% by weight of the overall grass seed mix -Western yarrow (Achillea millefolium var occidentalis): West Coast Seeds, equal to 0.09% of the overall grass seed mix. These seeds are very tiny, so please ensure you distribute them evenly throughout the lawn.
