I know there’s a lot of buzz around right now about the second Beetle Juice movie, but that’s not what I’m talking about here. This is my kind of beetle juice…
I mentioned several posts back about my battle with the dreaded Japanese beetles. Every day, I go around the garden to do battle with the pests. I got out usually at least three times – once in the morning, once in the afternoon, and once in the evening, and I pick the beetles off my plants, and put them in this bowl of water, mixed with a little dish soap. I pick off about this many beetles almost every single day.
Why do I do this?
Because this is what they do to plants. And many of their favourites are my favourites too. Especially my roses.
They also love the pussy willows, the raspberries, the hyssop, the coneflowers and the butterfly bushes. It’s a constant battle. I won’t say I’m winning, but things would be much worse if I did nothing. Next year, I’m going to try nematodes on the lawn, to see if I can reduce the population by attacking the grubs before they emerge as beetles. The problem is though, these little jerks fly… so they come in from all over.
As much as the soil here is better for my roses than the townhouse, I definitely have more insect issues. The other big problem I have are these jerks.
They are Sawfly larvae. And like the Japanese Beetles, the best way to keep them in check is manually pick them off. The problem is, they start out really small, and can do a lot of damage before they get big enough to easily see.
Despite these troubles, the roses are doing pretty well this year.
Those last two pics are of the newest- Prairie Princess. She’s such a pretty shade of pink, and a very welcome addition to my collection.
Wandering Cat Studio 
Hi Valerie, oh, my goodness, look at the Japanese Beetles! I never heard of these pesky things until a few years ago. Last year they were so bad here they destroyed a few of my plants. Like you I go out every morning to get rid of them. I heard a theory last year that those Japanese Beetle bags that people hang up actually attract them to your garden and you shouldn’t use them. A neighbour last year had the bags around his yard and in my nearly 40 years of gardening we never had so many of the darn things. This year the neighbour is trying to sell his house and he didn’t put them up. There are quite a few less of the pesky things this year. Don’t know if it is just a coincidence or not. Your roses are gorgeous. I LOVE pink flowers, the last photo looks like a wild rose that I saw in Nova Scotia.
Enjoy your Sunday.❤️
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It is a tough job keeping the pests at bay–have you ever tried the hanging kind of beetle trap? I just wonder if they will help!
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Oh, dear, oh dear, oh dear….I’ve forgotten what damage they can do. I noticed that my neighbor with the big garden on the hill has beetle traps all around. Right now I am battling the slugs. They keep climbing up my new front door every night and making the worse mess.
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Looks like a mess, have you tried diatomaceous earth? It is natural but you have to reapply after a rain. You are a trooper collecting them all!:)
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While I have never heard of or seen Sawfly larvae, I am very familiar with Japanese beetles. In my area, if you just turn your back, they can decimate a plant. You have a good process going and sounds like a good plan for next year.
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I have sawfly larvae on my potted cherry tree. I’m trying diatamaceous earth (sp?) as well as Neem oil. Apparently they have multiple ‘hatchings’ or whatever so just as I got the early summer ones dead then the late summer ones appeared.
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WOW! You have a full-time job just picking the pests off of your garden. Yuck! I really hate bugs. I hope you’re albe to get control of them all! Those roses are gorgeous, love the pink.
Blessings,
Betsy
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Eeks!
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