Hand Pick Japanese Beetles from Plants (No Traps) and Other Tips

It's that time of the year when you start to notice Japanese beetles getting into your yard and eating your trees and shrubs. They are quite beautiful beetles actually with rainbow oil slick looking wing coverings and they are harmless to humans because they don't bite or sting. But they will run rampant in the yard if you are not on the lookout for them. Here are a few tips I've picked up over the years dealing with Japanese beetles. 

1. Look for their characteristic "skeletonized" leaves - the beetles eat the fleshy part of the leaf and leave the veins, so if you see skeleton leaves this is a tell tale sign of Japanese beetle damage. 

2. Hand picking Japanese beetles from plants can be effective early intervention and prevention - If your yard is not yet overrun and you just notice a few, pick them off the plants and get rid of them. When they feed they release a scent that attracts EVEN MORE Japanese beetles, basically ringing the dinner bell. You don't need to spray insect killer on your whole plant or yard just because you see a few, but remember they are sending out an invisible signal to their friends. 

The technique I like to use to get them off the plants is to hold a cup of water under them before I grab them. When they are disturbed their defense mechanism is to drop to the ground, so if you are trying to get them by hand they might slip away. If you hold a cup of water under them first they will drop into the water. They are lousy swimmers and the water will prevent them from flying away as you walk around the yard looking for more. This is also why you see people put buckets of water underneath Japanese beetle traps to catch the ones that fall off. 

3. Do not use traps - Remember how I said the Japanese beetles release a scent that attracts other beetles to the feast? The bait used in Japanese beetle traps uses the same scene, essentially attracting EVEN MORE to your yard. I heard a funny expression once that Japanese beetle traps are the perfect gift for your neighbor 5 houses down. If things get really bad I just end up spraying my trees with an insect killer spray. 

4. Remember the plants that usually get hit - In my yard I can usually spot them on Buckthorn Fineline, River Birch, and Linden trees. These seem to be their favorite at least where I live. I never see them on boxwoods or roses for example, so I don't bother looking there unless I see "skeletonized" leaves first. 

And It Was All Yellow...

I have that Coldplay song Yellow stuck in my head as I look at all my plants turning yellow and ugly and getting ready for winter. Yuck. I'm fine with my plants in winter, especially looking forward to my Northwind switch grass contrasting against the snow - but the slow transition is not so great. Most of my plants don't have a good fall color, at least this year. It's all sort of yellow brown.

Ruby Falls weeping redbud -  Cercis canadensis ‘Ruby Falls’

Hosta 'Sum and Substance'

Annabelle hydrangea

River birch

Northwind switch grass - Panicum virgatum 'Northwind'

Liriope muscari 'Variegata'

My fall yard leaves something to be desired...

Brown Edge on River Birch Leaves

My young river birch have brown rusty edges on some of the lower leaves. It looks like a fungal infection, probably from the humid weather (and made worse when I water the lawn in the evening after work). I cut a few of the bottom branches off anyway to promote vertical growth, so that should get rid of a lot of the infected leaves. I'm also going to spray fungicide on the entire tree to hopefully prevent it from getting out of hand before Fall.

Looks like rust, or advanced leaf blight, a fungal infection on the leaves from humid weather and watering in the evenings

It's spreading! Only on the lower branches so far. The new leaves at the ends of the branches are fine, and the upper leaves look okay.

Brown spots with a yellow halo, looks like a sure sign of leaf blight

River Birch First Paper Bark Losing Juvenile Bark

My river birch in the backyard are beginning to lose their red juvenile bark, and beginning to peel into papering adult bark. It's starting at the bottom and moving up the tree. I'd say it's about 8 inches high so far.

The trees quickly put on about 1 1/2 feet of new vertical growth this summer, and now they're getting fatter trunks. I'm hoping for some more vertical growth before the Fall really sets in.

First paper bark on a young river birch, losing its red juvenile bark

A Budding Hobby: Ode to Buds

I've been keeping a watchful eye on tree buds in my yard lately, tapping my toe and waiting impatiently for leaves to show. I thought I'd use this blog post to document some of the changes I've noticed. So here's the bud news roundup!

Linden tree buds in the front yard - I managed to track down the exact same bud for a before and after photo

First up, the young Japanese maple [Acer palmatum] next to my front door (dark green with some purple leaves but not sure what kind). When 3/4 of the leaves dried up last summer I pulled them off because I read that Japanese maples have a second set of leaves they can put out. While I saw the buds beneath the first set of leaves, they never opened.

 I'm pretty sure my over-watering and the direct midday sun are what caused this. Hopefully if it comes back it learns to work with the stark contrast in light.

When I removed the dried up leaves, I saw these little buds beneath where the leaves attached

I figured this tree was a total gonner, until I saw these new signs of life. Tiny buds (some extremely tiny) forming where none were before. Will this tree come back to life? Will it adapt to its mix of direct sun followed by complete shade on the north side of the house?

Ok, so these tiny Japanese maple buds aren't all that exciting to look at - but the fact that this tree isn't completely dead is pretty neat.

Linden [Tilia cordata] in the front yard busting out! My dad says Linden buds look like boxing gloves

River birch [Betula nigra] leaves emerging today, April 18

Young River Birch Bark Color in Winter

I was staring longingly at my yard through the sliding glass door, as I tend to do - wishing for Spring to come early - and I noticed my 5-stem river birch [Betula nigra] looked pinker than usual. The direct sun brought out the salmon or rusty-pink color in the thin trunks against a backdrop of white melting snow. It was a high of 48°F here in Indiana today.

Bark detail of the young river birch [Betula nigra] has a nice rusty pink color. The bark isn't peeling much on this young tree except down at the very bottom of the trunk.

My dad put two of these mini river birch groves in for me last summer, and they haven't had a real growing season yet - since they are so young, I'm hoping they had a chance to root in and that they will really take off this Spring! I love the shape of the mature trees and I can't wait to have a little more privacy in the backyard.

Here is the same river birch last summer when my yard was peaking with hydrangea blooms and the Liriope around the trees was perky and flowering