For so many wonderful summers, gardeners in Colorado didn’t have to worry about Japanese beetles. Those iridescent, insatiable, and destructive pests were found primarily on the East Coast and other regions after having been imported on plants in the 1920’s. But the glory days are no more. They are eating us out of roses, trees, and plants!
If you’re uncertain if you have Japanese beetle on your plants or trees, just take a look at your leaves before they fall this season. Plants that have been hosting beetles look skeletonized, meaning you can see the veins on the leaves but most of the meaty tissue has been eaten off. Some of you may have even spotted them on your leaves this summer. The beetles near us love our favorite shade producing crabapple tree. We discovered them by looking closely one day when we noticed the tree was not as full as it used to be (see pic above). There it was, and upon looking further, we saw that they were EVERYWHERE – all over our poor tree and others in the area. We also noticed our neighbors, once beautiful, climbing ivy was completely decimated.
If you’re still uncertain, you may also notice brown spots on your lawn. That’s where the little buggers retreat to in the fall and produce eggs. The grubs survive on the shoots of your grass until they become adult beetles which will come out again next season. That’s right, even if you think they’re gone in August, their thousands of hungry babies are hiding below ground eating your pretty lawn, scary huh? Some websites say that they prefer Kentucky bluegrass, so if you are recently landscaping, you may want to stay away from that type.
Learning of this horrific cycle got us researching further. We didn’t want beetles destroying our trees, but we also didn’t want to put anything in our yard that could harm other pollinators and especially our pets. So, we discovered organic Milky Spore treatment. You can buy it at Ace Hardware in most of the North Metro area.
Milky Spore is a powdered naturally occurring bacteria that you sprinkle on your lawn, in a four foot cross pattern, each Fall and Spring. It can be a little pricey depending on how large your yard is but consistent treatment will keep the beetles from coming back, at least in the same number as before. Because beetles hibernate within a one to two mile range, they can still be in your neighbors yard and return to yours as well, but if you talk to your neighbors about treatment we can all make a difference in keeping these horrible pests at bay.
Some people have also suggested neem oil sprays for your plants or capturing the beetles by hand and dropping them in a bucket of Dawn water. But, quite honestly, our success rate in beetle-catching has been pretty low – I mean…ICK!! Whatever you do, do not squish or trap the beetles. They are pheromone driven insects and are attracted to the smell of a fallen soldier. On that note, good luck, fellow plant lovers. We will fight the good fight together!
If you have a lawn and garden treatment or further knowledge on this topic. We would love to hear from you!
Write to us at: editor@northmetrowoman.com
