Getting Rid Of Japanese Beetles In Your Garden

I had the same problem 20 years ago when the beetles first made it to southern Illinois. Our backyard was over the fence from a soybean field that the beetles just loved. Initial attempts to use the Spectricide bag traps of the day did not work well, because they filled up within an hour, resulting in them meeting up, mating and flying off. Also, the traps seemed to attract more beetles to the yard than were there before putting them up, so placing them far away from their favorite plants is a good strategy. Putting the trap over a 45-gallon trash drum filled part way with soapy water was an improvement. I would dump the barrel each evening and refill it. The skunks, opossums and rat snakes enjoyed the feast. What really did the trick was replacing the tiny bag with a tube of plastic bag material long enough to ensure that the beetles entering the trap would be guided to a watery demise. Just using a longer, large capacity bag worked wonders too. The bags had to weigh over 30 pounds each. They do stink though when caught in those quantities. You are correct that keeping their numbers down does help from year to year. One other thing I noticed is that it took the native birds a while to develop a taste for the beetles. The cardinals in particular seem to have developed a taste for them, and I often see them working their way through our vines to find them.

Funny how I didn't know you have this problem in your country and it broke my heart and then saw someone did invent something to stop and manage it and it calmed me down. I wish your and the earth the best. ❤

I don’t understand why milky spore was not mentioned. It is fabulous for keeping down numbers. It also spreads naturally. I tend to reapply every few years to boost it, but it does work wonders!

You are so right about seeing one or two one year and then a mass the next. I tend to let most critters live their little lives, but I finally let my young peach trees fruit this year and they decimated the fruit just before it was ripe enough to pick. They chewed right through the organza bags i had put on the fruits. I'm going to try these traps.

I have found that planting Buckwheat close to and within gardens so they are flowering early and all summer the buckwheat attracts beetle predators and the beetle population drop dramatically. More pollinators and birds are in the garden. Those look like very good traps, and they plan for a big 'harvest'.

Thank you so much, that was very informative

This is the most comprehensive video I've seen on these pests. And I don't think people realize the damage they can do to fully grown tree's!

Wow, so glad I found your content.

Thank you for your insights and advice..

I live in town but have always had Japanese Beetle problems d/t my rose bushes. I let my neighbors put out those bags and attract the beetles to their properties:) I have put the grub killer in my grass for a couple years. This year I hardly saw any beetles on my flowers - at least partly because one day I noticed movement in my grass, went to check it out, and realized I was seeing beetles emerging from the ground! I got real busy killing them before they could get any further.

Very educational,Thnx.

Look at how many you collect!!! 🐞 My gosh no wonder our raspberry plants were completely skeletonized!!!

This year is so incredibly bad for me with those beetles last year I hardly had any and if I saw them I would remove them and squish them. But this year they are just taking over. They have taken my morning glory, my roses, green beans, and marigolds. I have found them on my other plants but they have not attacked them like how they did with those other plants or not at all. Thanks for making this video it really helps me to figure out what to do next.

I’ve sprayed with soap and water , so far seems to be doing the trick.

I had lot of them this year. They gone after my weeping cherry trees, roses, hibiscus and yellow petunias. I couldn’t believe they gone after the yellow petunias. I also found them in my vegetable garden, especially the beans, cucumbers and squash. I noticed some of them on the arborvitae tress. They are so nasty, so I used trap bags and hand picked them into soapy water. I learned recently that they don’t like garlic water so will give it a try next year. I wish I could get them under control at my property because I do think they are pretty.

I had an old van on my property from an old business and the chrome bumper constantly attracted the Guinea fowl. They would stand in front of the "mirror" and argue/fight/peck with the bird in the reflection for HOURS. Funny at first, by I eventually spray painted the bumper before getting rid of the van all together because the noise drove me nuts. Amazing birds but noise is an understatement.

Your right, last year I killed in the bags and by hand about 8 t0 10 thousand, this year after a month maybe a thousand total but I stay up on them, I live in mid michigan. next year I will put a lot of grub killer down around the lawn brown spots and see if that helps. Great video.

Oh my gosh we get thousands and thousands of them. I am definitely trying this.

They really like Marigolds too.

Never even heard of Japanese beetles. We have "Phyllopertha horticola, the garden chafer or garden foliage beetle" here. It looks similar but it does no damage. I use neem for garden pests, it seems to work. But I heard mixed reviews from others. Did you ever try neem and, if so, did it work for you regarding those beetles? Good video. Thank you for sharing.