Japanese Beetles       

Many of you already know that these Japanese Beetles will begin flying sometime in late May. You can see that they winter over in your lawn and adult grubs. So many of you can’t stand the damage caused by the flying beetle but little did you know that the real damage occurs underground from the eggs that they lay that hatch and turn into grubs. They have a similar life cycle as does the butterfly that spends part of its time as a caterpillar before wrapping itself in a cocoon and emerging as a butterfly.

When the Beetles eggs hatch and tunnel into your lawn, their hungry babies the grubs, start eating your grass roots. Many grass problems start from a root system that is weakened by grubs. Lawns weakened by grubs eating the grass roots can give an entry point for weeds, funguses or other insects to attack. Many times it seems like you just can’t apply enough water but the real problem lies beneath the surface in lack of roots to take up the water.

For your lawn, here is how we recommend controlling grubs and Japanese Beetles. First, treat your lawn in April with adult grub killer to kill the over wintering adult grubs that are about to hatch into Japanese Beetles. This is a fast acting and short lasting product. Next, in late May when you see the Japanese Beetles start to fly, come to the garden center and ask us for our grub baby killer. This product is not capable of killing adult grubs. What it does is to lay down a barrier and kills only baby grubs as they hatch. This product only needs to be applied once in May and will last all season long.

We also have a two throng approach to protect your shrubs from Japanese and other Beetles. First, start fertilizing all of your shrubs including Crape Myrtles with Fertilome Azalea fertilizer containing systemic insecticide. Do this once a month starting in April and continuing through September. Finally, for those beetles attacking daily, come see us at the garden center for 38 Plus that drops these beetles dead in their tracks.