August 20, 2008
Take a close look at your plants. The 1/2″ long, shiny green insects flying around right now are Japanese Beetles (JB). They are voracious leaf eaters and can cause a lot of damage in a short period of time. Plants that are favorites of the JB in my yard are Roses, Grapes, Elm, Larch, Strawberries, Wisteria, and the list goes on.
What do we do about this? I set out JB traps. I have my JB traps set about 10′-15′ down wind from plants that I know are chewed on every year. The reason for the distance is so the beetles are attracted away from their favorite food and hopefully less damage is done. Do the traps attract JB from other areas too? Probably, but I find it difficult to stand by and watch my plants be defoliated. It is also very satisfiying to watch the beetles fly into the traps!
Biological control is a great idea. If you provide a variety of plants in your yard, you will be drawing different types of birds that eat the JB. Starlings, Cardinals, Grackles, Meadowlarks, Crows, Chickens, Pheasants, Ducks, Geese, and even Guineas are all great predators of the JB.
August 31, 2007
Those nasty tent worms are now forming in many trees. They feed on the leaves and just look messy. If left alone, little harm is done to the tree. It is late enough in the growing season that even if the tree leaves were totally gone, the tree would likely re-leaf fine next year.
If you find tent worms in your ornamental trees in the landscape and they are low enough to reach, there are ways to get rid of them. The best way is to put on a pair of work gloves and pull the nest off. Make sure to get all the worms off that you can and destroy them. Or, if you want to try a different method, some people put gasoline on them and burn them off. This is fun but be careful!!!
By they way, this is prime time for lawn seeding. If you need to patch up any areas, try to do it in the next couple of weeks.
