Japanese Beetle Control

A few years ago I was visiting a friend in Indianapolis.  As we toured gardens everyone was complaining about the Japanese Beetles and how they were eating their plants to nothing.  I had never heard of Japanese Beetles, the biggest enemies in my Wisconsin shade garden are slugs and earwigs.  I often would complain about the zone I lived in, wishing I could grow more plants.  However when I returned to my garden I was happy about my colder zone which meant no Japanese Beetles.  Last year I found my first Japanese Beetle, nothing like the huge number I saw in the Indianapolis gardens but enough to scare me just a little.  I thought maybe it was a fluke, but as you can see from the picture below I found them again this year.  

While we don't have the huge population of Japanese Beetles as states south of us, it's still important to control the ones we do have.  Japanese Beetle adults attract more beetles to your yard.  You will often find them resting in plants in the early morning or early evening.  When you see them pick them or shake them off plants into a bucket of soapy water (or sheets of newspaper and destroy them).  There are Japanese Beetle traps that you can buy, but from reading research most believe they actually attract more beetles to your garden.  Japanese Beetle grubs will eat the roots of your plants and grass.  I have read that you can control the grubs by using lawn aerating shoes or sandals when the grubs are closer to the surface which is mid-summer until the first frost.    You can also control them by not watering your lawn during their active times, as they need the moisture to survive.

If you have any other tips for controlling Japanese Beetle, please comment below.