Theyyyy’re Baaaack!  Japanese beetles took a break the last few years from most gardens after suffering great decline in numbers from the COLD 2013-2014 winter.  These shimmery, shiny garden pests love to hang onto your vines, roses, apple trees and other garden tasty treats.  With a shake of a branch or a spray of a hose, Japanese beetles will drop to the ground, play dead and then go right back to work devouring your garden plants.

The Japanese beetles live through the MN winter in egg and larva form under turf grass or under a layer of soil in your garden.  It’s possible to stop a generation of beetles by giving your lawn an insect treatment in spring and fall, however NOW (summertime now) it’s time to put and end to your garden buffet business and send those beetles packing.  Choose a heavy duty Eight product by Bonide or a natural oil or pepper spray.  Read the directions on the container and be sure to spray at night or when the sun is very low in the sky (best way to avoid harming other insects).  As always make sure your plants are already well watered and fertilized before putting anything on its leaves.  For the NO CHEMICAL treatment: The beetles can be hand picked off and tossed into a bucket of water.  Plants that have substantial leaf damage will get stressed out and would benefit greatly from a fertilizer treatment.