How Metro Vancouver Residents Can Protect Gardens and Lawns from Invasive Beetles
You’ve seen lawns around the region destroyed by animals and birds searching for a juicy chafer beetle snack. Now there’s a new beetle in town. And it’s even worse! The Japanese beetle (Popillia Japonica) is threatening lawns, gardens, and landscaped areas in a few Metro Vancouver municipalities. In response, steps…
Why Are Crows Ruining My Lawn! (a.k.a. Living with European Chafer Beetle in Vancouver)
Submitted by Kerrie van Gaalen, UBC Botanical Garden Have you ever wondered why the crows have been so interested in tearing up your lawn recently? It turns out they are in search of the tasty grub snack known as the European chafer beetle (Rhizotrogus majalis). Working in a botanical garden,…
Improving Park Amenities for Six-legged Residents
Submitted by: Chris McKerracher, Trades II Gardener, City of Vancouver “Are you going to plant daffodils?” The words tumbled out of the mouth of a girl amongst a small group of kindergarten students watching us work. They were taking a break from their gym activity of jogging around the field…
Why Plant Trees?
Submitted by: Douglas Justice, Associate Director, Horticulture & Collections (UBC Botanical Garden) Ecological services, aesthetics There is a lot of accumulated research that tells us that trees are valuable. Trees provide ecological services that include extracting carbon dioxide from the air and replacing that (minus the carbon that is sequestered…
Creating a Pollinator-Friendly Garden
By Brian Campbell, Tara Moreau and Braela Kwan Pollinators are the various insects and animals that contribute to the reproduction of plants. These include many species of bees, butterflies, birds, flies, moths, wasps, beetles and other animals that move pollen between male and female flower parts to create seeds for…
The Bird-Friendly Backyard
How to turn your green space into a healthy avian habitat Autumn is a fascinating time for bird-watchers in our region. A wide variety of resident and over-wintering birds are regularly observed in Metro Vancouver throughout fall and winter. At places like Boundary Bay Regional Park and other seashore locations,…