The City of New Westminster is continuing to support residents’ efforts to battle a pest that’s been wreaking havoc on local lawns for nearly two decades.
The European chafer, first discovered in New West in 2001, is destructive to lawns and boulevards because the chafer grubs feed on the roots of grasses at certain times of the year and skunks, birds and other creatures dig up the grass to feed on grubs in the fall and winter.
Each spring, the city offers a subsidy program for the purchase of nematodes, which are applied to lawns where the chafer has been found. Nematodes are microscopic worms that attack the chafer grubs.
“This is a longstanding program that we have had in place for many years,” said Mayor Jonathan Cote. “It’s unfortunate. It did look like the issue was getting a little bit better a few years ago, but the last couple of years we certainly have seen increased participation in the program. Anecdotally, looking around the community I have noticed a lot more yards struggling with this issue as well. I think it’s a worthwhile program for the city to continue to be able to support.”
Dean Gibson, the city’s director of parks and recreation, said the presence of the European chafer in the region appears to have originated in New Westminster. He said the city started the nematode subsidy program in response to an outcry from residents who didn’t know how to tackle the problem.
“That program has been continued since 2008. Our usage statistics will show anecdotally that the prevalence and impact of the chafer in our community has ebbed and flowed through the years,” he said. “It was in a bit of a downturn back as recently as 2013/2014, where as staff we were gearing up for actually suggesting the program be suspended, but then suddenly the chafer took a bit of a resurgence and its impact became again more prevalent within the community, and the subscription rate to the subsidized program also increased.”
The city has a $10,000 budget for the annual subsidy program, which provides 250 packages of nematodes to residents. Residents receive a 50 per cent discount on the purchase of nematodes, to a maximum of two packages per home, on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Starting March 16, single-family residents can pre-order subsidized or full price nematodes packages through Garden Works at Mandeville or GardenWorks at Lougheed. While people must pay for the nematodes at time of purchase, they won’t be available for pickup until June or July, which is deemed to be the best time to apply the nematodes to the lawn.
For more information on the nematode program, visit www.newwestcity.ca.
