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Spring has sprung and your lawn and gardens are in their prime growing season. Unfortunately, this means that the pests who feed on them are not far behind. Public enemy number one has to be the Japanese beetle. Japanese beetles generally show up around June and feed on your lawn and plants by attacking your plants and the lawn’s root systems and stripping them of their nutrients. If left untreated, the effects can be devastating.
How To Kill Japanese Beetles - Natural Pesticide Recipe
There are several recipes for home remedies out there, but if you don’t want to mess with spraying tobacco juice (yuck) or gin on your plants, this is the most efficient recipe I’ve found. In a quart sized spray bottle, mix ½ cup canola oil, 1 tablespoon garlic powder, and a couple tablespoons of dish washing soap. Fill the remainder of the bottle with warm water, shake, and spray in the morning while the beetles are still a little sluggish. You can also purchase organic Japanese beetle killers from your lawn and garden center, such as Neem oil or insecticidal soap, but they can be expensive and have many of the same properties as the home made mix shown above.
How To Kill Japanese Beetles - Traps
Another method of killing Japanese beetles is to trap them. You can purchase these traps from garden centers or online. The traps use pheromones to lure the beetles into the trap, but there are some drawbacks. Many gardeners have reported that traps actually bring more beetles onto your property. So you need to make sure that the traps are set up far away from the plants that you are trying to protect. Unfortunately, many homeowners don’t have enough acreage to get the necessary distance away from your desired plants. Also, once the trap starts filling up with dead beetles, the smell is, to put it mildly, very unpleasant.
How To Kill Japanese Beetles - Other Remedies
Of course, there are also steps that you can take to repel the beetles naturally. Make your yard less attractive to Japanese beetles by removing deadwood from trees and fallen fruit from under fruit trees. The beetles are attracted to the decomposition and will look for a more fertile feeding ground if you keep your landscape cleaned up. Also, there are certain plants that are known to repel Japanese beetles, to include, garlic, tansy, catnip, citronella, and larkspur. Consider adding these plants to the perimeter of your property to act as a preventative barrier.
Japanese beetles can devastate your lawn and gardens. Plan your garden to include plants that repel beetles. Keep a sharp eye out for their appearance in early to mid June and take decisive action to eliminate them before they cause irreparable damage. They can travel miles in search of food, so make your lawn and garden as unappealing as possible and send them off in search of an easier food source.
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Author Bio Box: Patricia Wainwright
Get all the facts about pests and disease and organic gardening at GreenThumbArticles.com!
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