August Garden Pest: Japanese Beetles are back...again!

August Garden Pest:

Japanese Beetles are back...again!

We all understand that the cyclical nature of gardening reeps fresh deliciousness: greens and asparagus each spring, summer herbs and vegetables, followed by autumn squash and cool-weather crops. Unfortunately, the rhythym of seasons also reeps a rotating bounty of pests. A few months ago my nemesis was the Red Lily Beetle, followed by powdery mildew, and now, it's Japanese beetles...again.

If you don't dislike Japanese beetles, it's probably because you haven't had to battle them in your garden. At first glance they are like bling in your garden with their irridescent golden-green coloring. Unlike beneficial insects that pollinate plants, Japanese beetles have three purposes in my garden: eat, mate, and turn my family into pernicious pest pluckers (...and accidental voyeurs since Patrick also likes to point out each time he finds them "mating". Looks like I may have to have "that talk" with him a LOT sooner than I ever imagined!)

Last August I compiled information on our blog about these ravenous imported beetles and a variety of ways to deal with them. This year, in addition to Neem Oil and sacrificial marigolds, my garden is defended by a 5 -year-old boy who loves to stomp on as many beetles as I can pull off our plants. As gross as it is to see the mass grave in our garden, their corpses supposedly warn other Japanese Beetles to skeedaddle.

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