Keep Japanese beetles away from your garden

WHEREVER JAPAnese beetles are going to be a problem, they have by now made their presence known. Even if the beetles themselves go unnoticed, threadbare leaves are a sure sign of the beetles’ work. The first beetles crept out of the soil in late June, but in the last couple of weeks they have come out in numbers. Soon most of the beetles will stop feeding and females will lay eggs in the soil. These eggs will hatch into grubs which will remain underground to feed on plant roots — mostly grasses — then take a rest for the winter and feed again in spring before metamorphos- ing into beetles next summer. Note that I began by stating: “Wherever beetles are going to be a problem...” Though this imported pest has spread throughout the country since first showing its face in New Jersey in 1916, they don’t descend in hoards on every single garden.

Terry & Kim Kovel | Antiques & Collecting