What's Eating My Plants!

Oh the joys of summer gardening! Yes they are here. Those pesky pests! And, they are voracious consumers of our prized plants.

Japanese Beetles! These little machines feed on nearly 300 species of plants as adults!

So What To Do...
Well there are many styles of dealing with this particular critter. But.. the best practice is to prevent them from a life cycle in your lawn. If you deal with them in their larvae stage of life you will have fewer to trap or kill as adults. The eggs are laid in the soil and overwinter as larvae below the frost line. They produce 1 generation per yer. The larvae are called 'grubs' , a white C shaped image that is quite repulsive when you see them. If you have dead brown spots on your lawn, you may have had grubs in there eating the roots as they transformed into the flying beetle adult form. If your lawn peels back like a rug, you should check for grub infestation. Grubs can be controlled thru lawn care at the appropriate time of the season. There are many products out there to apply, but I would suggest you use those that are the most earth and human friendly. GardensAlive is a great place to find information and products you can purchase that are safe for you and your environment. Be aware that these little darlings can fly up to 5 miles to find a choice meal, so if your neighbor has them, you will have them too!

Dealing with the Japanese Beetle as an adult is much more challenging. Pheromone traps are really only useful in finding out when they've arrived, so please don't put one in your garden! You may as well post a sign that says 'Good Food Here!'. I actually do not use the traps. Part of good IPM practice is to visit your garden daily and spot problems early, like the arrival of the Japanese Beetle. I carry along a large open plastic bowl 1/3 full with water and dish soap on top that I drop these little pests into as I find them in the garden. It's quite simple, if you prefer not to 'touch' them (sometimes I just squish em with my fingers), just place the bowl near the area of the plant you've found them in, jiggle the plant and they will fall into the deadly soup. The dish soap keeps them from crawling out and eventually they will drown. I do this early in the morning before they become too active.

Some birds like to eat them, so attract birds to your property with housing, food and water for them. To mention a few: Cardinals, Robins, and Sparrows will feed on the adults, Starlings and Crows will feed on the larvae.

Choosing plants not preferred by the beetle will help if you just can't deal with them. Personally, I'm not willing to give up the beauty of a rose just because of this little critter. Persistence and good garden and lawn practices will help keep them under control and allow you to enjoy your landscape and all it has to offer.

UMASS and USDA have great fact sheets with information on the Popillia japonica pest we all love to hate.