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. 

How I Turned My Landscaping iPhone Photos Into Affordable Canvas Wall Art

Back in 2019 I changed offices at work and had the opportunity to "spruce" things up a bit. The furniture is all standard and I'm not allowed to change anything, so I wanted to add some color and remind myself of my happy place out in the yard at home. I was able to print some super affordable custom canvas wall art using photos I took of my own yard on my iPhone - nothing fancy! It turned out super great and I got a lot of compliments at work. People couldn't believe 1.) that I took the photos myself, and 2.) that it was so inexpensive. 

I knew I wanted a variety of textures and colors, but I didn't want photos of flowers necessarily. I didn't want people to think I was narcissistic and just have photos of my yard hanging on my wall, so I went with detailed shots that you can't really tell are from my yard personally and could just be stock photos. I think that's why people can't believe they're mine because they are not the kind of photos most people take of their yard. 

I ended up going with these photos:

Rhamnus frangula ‘Fine Line’ Buckthorn

Asarum europaeum (European Wild Ginger)

Picea orientalis 'Skylands' oriental spruce new growth

I used a website called Easy Canvas Prints (not sponsored) because they let you choose custom dimensions for your canvas wall art. I decided to do a triptych (fancy way of saying 3 pieces of art that hang as a set together) with each one being 12 inches wide and 36 inches tall. 

The custom 12 inch by 36 inch canvases were approximately $28 each. Shipping was $12 and tax was $7. This site is hilarious, they make it look like you are saving 93% but they've had that promotion going on for years. Either way, the ACTUAL price is still a bargain. If you have certain dimensions you want in canvas but don't see them on a site you are looking at, try a custom option like this, I was able to get exactly what I wanted and it turned out great. The print quality was fantastic even with iPhone photos, very good detail. 

I had them ship directly to my office so I wouldn't have to carry them in my car and up the stairs. Let UPS do the work! They arrived and I hung them with command hooks because they are very light weight. 

Here is the final product:

Custom dimension canvas prints from iPhone photos of plants in my yard

Set of 3 wall canvas prints of my own plant photos

Can't Mow Between Fences, Created Pachysandra Ground Cover Bed

This is the 'after' photo at the start of the following season when things have had a chance to grow in a little bit

My neighbor got a new fence for his dog (and so I don't have to look at his yard) but it's too close to my fence so a lawn mower doesn't fit between. After weed wacking it a few times, I knew he wouldn't help take care of it so I went ahead and devised a plan to turn it into a huge groundcover bed using Pachysandra even though half the space between the fence is technical his land. Here's the process I used and some photos along the way.

To plan out the overall shape of the bed, I used a hose on the ground to create a gentle curve. Then I used an edger to create a line along the hose, and sprayed Round Up on the grass to kill it. In previous beds, I lifted the sod and flipped it over and tried to create the bed that way, but the grass ended up growing through the sod - so this time I just decided to kill it and put topsoil and mulch over it.

Not all of the grass died completely, so I used vinegar as a touch up because it kills the grass just as well as the Round Up and it's way cheaper.

Planning out the shape of the bed with a hose helps visualize the gentle curves, then I edge along it to create a hard line in the ground. Some people spray paint or sprinkle flour to create a line to mark the edge.

I was really lazy with this bed and after the grass died I didn't do a whole lot of amending the soil or tilling, I just dumped some topsoil over the dead grass and added some mulch. I spent about $72 on the Pachysandra plugs - if they weren't so expensive I would have gotten a lot more to create a full look, but I guess I can wait a few seasons for it to really fill in.

I love this photo, it's a little bizarre to kill off such a big patch of grass when I spend so much time and energy trying to keep the grass alive, but I like the contrast and the clean line I was able to create.

Here is an after photo trying to get the same camera angle. This was taken immediately after installation so the ground cover hasn't had a chance to grow in at all. I've been wanting a Buckthorn Fine Line for a while so I used that as the accent plant in the middle of the bed.

Even Chris came out to help! Photo evidence!

I didn't even realize until I looked back at this photo from about a year ago that the Buckthorn Fine Line has actually put on a good 6-8 inches of growth since I put it in. The photo at the top fo the page is the most recent.

This was right after install, and before the neighbor's dog took out a few trying to dig under the fence (eye roll emoji)