Thursday, May 24, 2018

Japanese Beetle Battle Plan for 2018

Adult Japanese Beetles on Siberian Elm Weed Trees
Welcome to the first 2018 blog about Japanese beetles. If only the topic could be something more fun and more important like peace on earth.

Maybe next time.

Sigh. There's no better way to prepare for the imminent arrival of adult Japanese beetles then to face the reality together. They will be showing up soon to begin their plant eating carnage. What's your management plan? I'm calling my plan - "battle readiness in four steps." 

First, as difficult as it may seem - wrap your head around the fact that JB management is ongoing from first sighting on your favorite plant (s) to sometime in September when their numbers wane. There is no one fix all/kill all application for adult beetles and their egg-larvae offspring (both stages can be treated). Well there is one fix all but that would require moving to Alaska or the Caribbean. 

Second, determine if and how you'll remove or manage the adult beetles all summer as they keep coming and coming and coming - just like the mail.

Third, determine if and how you'll treat your turf where they lay their eggs - you know, the next generation - 2019 beetles. 

Four, act on your plan.

The good news for determining two through four is that Dr. Whitney Cranshaw, Colorado State University entomologist extraordinaire has revised his very informative and helpful fact sheet on the Japanese beetle. Find it HERE.

I suggest printing the fact sheet and reading it carefully. Pay attention to their life cycle (one year) and realize that effective management involves dealing with both adult beetles and their offspring. Dr. Cranshaw includes excellent management recommendations for both life stages. Circle the ones that make the most sense to you based on your time and pocketbook. Some products are pricey if you choose to use them regularly. Other controls sell out very quickly from mail order companies. 

Dr. Cranshaw has helped us tremendously with control details on the fact sheet by listing common names for the products, trade names, persistence tips, whether it's okay for food crops and the ever important pollinator hazard information.

Action - You may opt to do nothing - no management. You'll just complain to anyone around you who will listen, trust me from experience, eventually they will ask you to please stop complaining. Maybe they will pack your bags.

The most rewarding and immediate control method is to flick adults into soapy water in the morning or evening when they are sluggish and easy to flick. Keeping the numbers down actually reduces more beetles from joining the eating party on your plants. What attracts them to the plants is the plant oils released by beetle chewing (called congregation feeding), so less beetle chewing means less beetle visits. The research on Japanese beetles says that it is fine to squish or pinch adults on the spot. Their smushed parts do not attract more beetles to the area - it's the chewed plant oils that put out the welcome sign.

I know retired people who flick beetles on their infested plants twice a day. I don't think they are available for hire. If they did, their business card might read - 
 
Japanese Beetle Removal - The Number One Firm in Flicking
"We flick so you don't have to"
 
Personally, it's not easy for me to flick since Japanese beetles mainly dine on the tall silver lace vines that border our property. The beetle numbers are overwhelming, so I will use two, possibly three organic products this summer to kill adults. Remember - there are several management choices.
Silverlace Vine

My plan includes using a neem product containing azadiractin and Btg, also known as beetleJUS!™ which is one of the mail order products that sells out quickly. I'll also hand pick reachable beetles and hope for Glinda, the good witch to show up and cast a removal spell on all Japanese beetles on the planet - now we're talking peace on earth. 

I also plan on mowing less often - keep the lawn on the tall side which adult females don't like. Their preference for egg laying is moist, low cut grass. Keeping the lawn on the drier side during egg laying (June when they emerge till gone) is also effective on egg mortality. Just use care to keep any trees in or near lawns watered so they aren't stressed.

For grub control I will use a one-time only needed application of Acelepryn. This is a granular product that is safe around people, pets and pollinators - provided no blooming clover or dandelions are around which bees may be visiting. Always mow prior to application of any granular product. I will apply Acelepryn by mid-June. 

As we enter the 2018 Japanese beetle season - for additional information you're welcome to view my Google website on JB management in Colorado. In one place you'll find additional research-based fact sheets, plant lists JBs prefer and mostly avoid and more. Find the link HERE.

 

Sunday, May 20, 2018

Got Wet Garden Soil?

If you're happy about the recent rain storms then clap your garden gloved hands! Apologies to areas that got hit with hail, unfortunately that's often a common denominator in Colorado spring and summer thunderstorms. The white pebbles missed us in central Denver, but we're not out of the woods for next time - that goes for all of us. 

In case you're wondering about planting after the rain, check your soil first. It's important to wait until soils dry out to give your new plants the ideal conditions for their new home in your garden. Here's another one of my Denver Post videos from spring of 2015 about this very subject.


Click HERE if embed video doesn't open.



Wednesday, May 16, 2018

Unleash your Container Creativity

One of my very favorite garden to dos is shopping and creating container plantings for the patio, side of the house, front entry and the bathroom - if only Glen would give me the green light to place one there..."no potting soil in the potty!"

Immediately After Planting in May (for the video)
The video below is the quickest way to show you how to assemble your plants and place them in your favorite container. I did several Denver Post TV videos a few spring seasons ago and this year I'm posting them to my Facebook page and this blog site (left side). They are easy to view now that they're on YouTube. One of my favorite ones isn't posted for some reason - the one I did on composting with Judy Elliott

I have a difficult time watching myself, but maybe you'll be okay viewing my mug and perhaps pick up a tip or two. You experienced gardeners already know how to do great containers!!

Happy Planting!!




 

Click HERE if the video doesn't open

Late October - 5 Months Later

Thursday, May 3, 2018

"They Just Do"

How often have you said the three words of this blog title to your children, grandchildren or any young person when they've asked "why." We've all been there and asked "why" about a million times between the ages of two and five. I take that back, I think I only asked nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand times. I was a perfect child, just ask one of my siblings. They'd laugh and quickly walk away without answering, no need to go there, we all get along today - for the most part.  

A quick online search by one survey says the most frequently asked "why" questions by kids include - "Why is the moon out sometimes during the day?" "Why is the sky blue?" "How do airplanes stay up in the air?" And my favorite, which I'm still asking. "Will we ever discover aliens?"

I'm not going to answer these questions in this short blog. But I will avoid using the go to parental answer - "they just do" or "just because" and attempt to answer a garden question that is a curious "why" to me and maybe you.  

Prairie Fire Crab Apple
Here goes - "why do some trees (and shrubs) bloom before leafing out?" 

In my twenty plus year in the gardening world of learning and teaching I must have missed the class about blooms before leaves. Either that or everyone knows the answer and now I look pretty silly writing about this obvious phenomenon.

I'm going to assume you don't know the answer or at least want to know a little more information.

In full transparency I had to look this up and confirm my explanation. An online search wasn't instantaneous with the answer so I reached out to a couple of smart garden friends, one a very reputable horticulturist and urban forester, the other friend knows lots about lots of things in the gardening world. 

They both confirmed what I guessed. Their responses -"they just do," kidding...

Plants flower before leafing out to give them an advantage to the attentive pollinator audience who are moving between these plant species. After being pollinated plants have the time they need to grow their fruit to maturity, set seed and get those seeds dispersed by birds, mammals or the other ways nature does its dispersal thang every fall.

Flowers on plants that develop after leaves emerge generally produce shorter maturing fruits. Tomatoes are a good example. Some plants require a longer growing season to develop their fruit - drupes like walnut, pecans and almonds.

My take away from flowers first is not so much the why, although the reasons just reinforce how nature has it all worked out. For me it's the wow. We see these trees/shrubs in their glorious pink, purple, yellow and white spectacle of blooms far and wide - dotting landscapes and parkways proclaiming the obvious. They are the ultimate welcome emblems for another spring and summer growing season to weary, wintered out souls. 

Blooming Tree in Washington Park