Saturday, July 14, 2007

&*^$# Japanese Beetles

Urgh. We've been infested. As I sat staring out the back window of Claire's room into the yard during a pumping session I noticed a large infestation of bugs on our linden tree. Hmm... wonder what they are, I thought. Five days later I began noticing that they were eating the leaves. Our shade tree wasn't kicking off much shade any longer. I finally took a stroll in the back yard (a rare event these days) so I could get a better look at these critters to match to the pictures in our North American Wildlife book. Egads - Japanese Beetles. These suckers (literally) deforest trees, shrubs, flowers, whatever happens to be kicking of a 'stressed' signal, which is a chemical signature that the beetles hone in on and set up camp. Dang things are everywhere on this tree. Two weeks later and I am looking at a fairly bare tree with the beetles still chomping away on what is left of the leaves.

The trouble is, they procreate like mad. And lay their eggs in the ground so the larvae can come back the following year. Two nights ago, on another tour of the yard, I found them on two shrubs out front and the grape vine in the back. It dawned on me that they had been on the grape vine last year but didn't do much damage. However, my guess is they laid their eggs and now we are infested. I'm serious. They are everywhere.

We've been looking for non-toxic methods to get rid of the damn things but there aren't a lot out there. You can drown them in soapy water but that doesn't stop them from coming back and it's really hard to get to the ones at the top of the tree. I read in one of my gardening books that blending some dead/alive ones with water and spraying it on the infested plant does the trick. I might be heading to the Goodwill today to buy a used blender and make an attempt to gather some of the beetles, drown them and put them in the blender. I just can't imagine these things coming back again next year and destroying our maples or other trees. Urgh.

And the veggie garden is taking a beating. We harvested 7 peas last night and we will probably only get a couple more out of the whole lot. Something got to it while we were in the hospital and has continued to come back. I haven't gotten around to mixing the anti-critter brew (anyone know where to find dry mustard?) so I am paying the price. The carrots have been attacked as of late. Everything else seems to be going OK. The tomatoes are always left alone and we harvested a couple cukes last night as well. One of our strawberry plants is blooming again and this time I am going to get the strawberries off the plant before something comes along and eats them like last time. Earlier this year I thought, maybe we should throw up some chicken wire, but that thought passed when Pete said it would be too difficult to get in and out of the garden. Hmph. Next year we're throwing up chicken wire. It's the only thing that will keep out the racoons, deer, rabbits and whatever else is finding it's meals in my garden.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Japanese Beetles!

Japanese Beetles (JB) are quarantined in Minnesota and any sightings should be reported to the Dept. of Agriculture. The False JB is native and is likely what you have. The JB has five small, white tufts of hair along each side of its abdomen and is colorful and shiny. The False JB does not have the hairs and is dull in appearance. If you have JB then you truly have a major problem and a threat to the whole community.
http://www.extension.umn.edu/projects/yardandgarden/ygbriefs/e153falsejapanesebeetles.html

The best option for homeowners is a bag trap. See: http://www.gardensalive.com/product.asp?pn=8124

Assuming you have more beetles to capture than a bag will hold, remove the bag and place a 5-gallon bucket of water with a teaspoon of dishwashing detergent under the funnel of the trap. You will kill beetles by the thousands. Do not place the trap near your garden or other plants you want to protect (the beetles will be attracted to those plants).

Next Spring, spray your yard with a light mixture of dishwashing detergent and water. Do this several times every couple of weeks before the larvae hatch. You should mention your attack plan to your neighbors. If they fail to do anything, even with all your effort, you may still have problems.

The detergent spray is also effective against many other pests. Sensitive plants may experience leaf burn so instead you may want to use an insecticidal soap mixed with soft water.

If you do not have a fence around your garden, then you are growing for the wildlife. If you do not want to put a fence up this year, then use “Liquid Fence” Deer & Rabbit Repellent. It is safe for people, animals, and the environment. It is expensive, but it is guaranteed to work and also very useful around flowers, shrubs, etc. that you do not want to fence around.

Good luck and congratulations on Claire!

Anonymous said...

First direct link was cut off:

http://www.extension.umn.edu/
projects/yardandgarden/ygbriefs/
e153falsejapanesebeetles.html