Tricking Japanese Beetles

      They swarm in and eat the leaves of your trees, leaving only the skeleton. Sometimes they eat the buds and fruits as well. As if its not bad enough watching them gnaw through your leaves, it's even more disturbing to watch them hump one another on them, getting ready for their babies to do it all again next year.

      Unfortunately there's not much we can do about them. They're so stupid they can't even fly into the Japanese Beetle traps properly. Stupid, slow, clumsy. But, we can use their stupidity to our advantage. Now I've tried telling people about this method but they look at me like I have two heads. Something I've learned over the years is that people don't like anything unconventional. They want to do what they're told to do, what they're told is right, what they're told will work. And then we all do it because everyone else does it and anything else is just weird.

      Well, if you're reading this blog hopefully it means you're ready to try something else. Try it my way. Give those dumb beetles and your fellow gardeners the finger and try this.

      Keep in mind, Japanese Beetles are pretty stupid. They want the biggest juiciest leaves to eat. They're probably better for getting their groove on too. What plants have the biggest juiciest leaves? Well weeds of course. So instead of yanking them out, try leaving a few around the trees you're trying to protect. Unsightly? Yes. They'll get even uglier after the beetles eat them. But, they'll eat those instead of your trees. Don't believe me? A picture speaks a thousand words.

      Notice the perfect green untouched leaves of the grapevine on the right. Then on the left, a nice big ol' weed. They're eating it, fornicating on it and, well, excrementing on it. All that greenery has to go somewhere I guess. So much for not shitting where you eat. This is my third year growing grapes, and third year the Japanese Beetles haven't touched a single one of them. Last year I only left one huge weed like the one you see here and that was enough but this year there seem to be a lot more beetles. So I left quite a few weeds, at least one near every plant.

      Not only do they love grapevines, they also love Maple trees. One of the trees we transplanted this year just so happens to be a Maple, although I've read bad things about them and might pull it up before it causes any damage. But for now while I'm deciding, I want to keep it safe. So I left a couple big weeds next to it and they're doing the trick as well. The beetles all go straight for it, leaving the tree alone completely. They seem to like thicker more luscious leaves and weeds always have the best. I've seen a few make their way onto the Maple leaves but I just flick them off whenever I notice and they haven't caused any damage to any of my trees yet. The weeds are ugly, but my untouched trees are prettier. Good luck with your sprays and traps that attract more of them than they kill, I'll stick with watering my weeds. Don't let these dumb bugs outsmart you, its just embarrassing.

Oh yeah, and it's free.