Japanese Beetle Management Class - 2018

If you're at the hair pulling stage from looking, flicking or smashing these coppery/green bothersome beetles, then I'm here to offer help. Or at least an opportunity to join in the beetle battle learning plan for the rest of this summer and next year with others who are are also losing their hair!

My final 2018 class on Japanese beetle management at Denver Botanic Gardens is August 2, 2018 from 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm in Gates Hall, which is just inside the main building once you're through the gift shop entrance. Free parking in the lot across from the main entrance.

I'll cover all that you need to know about this small, but hungry, destructive pest. There are lawn care practices that can deter egg laying (which is next year's generation of adult beetles). I'll offer some easy, inexpensive tips for covering your favorite plants to prevent damage and then we'll roll up our sleeves and discuss the best products to use for your time frame and pocket book. Some are very safe to use around people, pets, pollinators and beneficial insects. Proper application and timing of products is KEY when it comes to battle readiness. I'll discuss this in depth, plus you'll take home all the information you'll need for years to come and where to look for updates.

There is good news on the horizon about beneficial predator insects and biological controls that target adult beetles and larvae, I'll explain.

Low Denver Botanic Garden member fee of $26.00, non-member fee of $31.00 

Please register here - HERE.

I'm looking forward to seeing you on Thursday!

Rain Songs

The monsoon rains finally arrived near the end of July. Rain is a blessing or a curse - that's no secret to any gardener who has lived here longer than five minutes. Many homeowners are crying over their landscapes and plant damage. I'm reading social media posts like "all that work, hours of planting and tending...wiped out in ten minutes!" "Our poor tomatoes, they were finally coming on after all this heat." "Maybe it's time to plow under the garden and put in a bocce court!" Okay, haven't heard that, but some years it sounds like a great idea.

About an inch received on July 24

 
All this fretting will continue while another storm is brewing over a corn patch near you.

Thinking about the rain storms this week reminded me of all the songs written over the years about this very topic. Here's a small sampling.

What's your favorite rain song?

Most agree, he's one terrific writer, poet and singer - Mr. Bob Dylan took the phrase that gardeners fear and welcome - "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall." 

Karen Carpenter combined two events - "Rainy Days and Mondays."

We ALL know this song. It may remain in your head for a few days or years - from one of the best movies of all time "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid."

Plant and Page - "The Rain Song" 

Always true - "Here Comes the Rain Again." 

The heart may mend....but will the landscape?  "It's Raining Again."  

Tina knows how to say and sing it, I wonder if she's a gardener. - "I Can't Stand the Rain." 

"Who'll Stop the Rain" ... not us!

Shade Cloth Hail Protection over Potatoes 8-10-17

Sing it - "Let it Rain."

Feel it - "It Feels Like Rain."

You'll need a tissue while listening - "Set Fire to the Rain." 

Kenny likes the rain and "There's Something Sexy about the Rain." 

Is it possible there's "A Better Rain." 

How about "Raining on Sunday." 

Everyone has experienced "Laughter in the Rain."

There's even a "Mandolin Rain."

Might as well get out there and start "Rockin' with the Rhythm of the Rain." 

This will take you back in time - "The Rain, the Park and Other Things." 

It rains in other states too "A Rainy Night in Georgia."  

Internet Photo

Sing it Elvis - "Kentucky Rain"

Who sings it better, Billie "Come Rain or Come Shine." OR Ray.

We miss "Purple Rain." 

Willie knows about "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain."

ALL gardeners agree..."Rain is a Good Thing." 

My all time favorite - "Singing in the Rain." 

How many times have we said "I Think it's Going to Rain Today."

Here's what we'll be saying during the next hot, dry spell - "I Wish it Would Rain." 

Dog Days of Summer - Lawn Edition

The interesting internet explanations for the meaning of the "Dog Days" of summer are just a Google search away. I believe the correct meaning has to do with an Egyptian star named Sirius (a dog) and his position in the sky sometime in July. Evidently Sirius was uncanny in predicting when the welcome rains were coming to flood the Nile which helped the crops each year. Up the road the ancient Romans and Greeks did not look forward to the dog days, associating them with disasters of all kinds, including drought - something we know a little about living here in the Centennial State.

Waiting for Snow

We can all agree that July is usually a fairly hot month. Ferris, our dog is counting the days until it's back to his comfort level - 28 degrees with a foot of snow on the ground.

So, how does one function in one's garden day after day in the nineties? Quick answer - chores before 7:00 am. Exception - mow in the evening when the lawn is dry. Also try the following cultural practices to keep your lawn looking good for the weekend gathering.

Mow high, not you - the lawn. Go ahead and groan, can't help myself, this is Colorado after all. Keeping the lawn taller (above 3 inches) in hot periods will shade the roots, keep weeds down and possibly deter those pesky female Japanese beetles from laying next year's generation. She shimmies her round rear down through the grass to lay a few eggs (3-6 at a time) in the top couple of inches of grass soil. She's not fond of tall grass. She'll probably fly over to the more suitable neighbor's lawn for egg laying, which is kept as short as a golf course's greens and tee boxes. 

While keeping the lawn taller, be sure to trim it lower around any sprinkler heads to prevent blocking the spray.

Water deeply, when it needs to be watered. The lawn will tell you when it's needing moisture - foot tracks are left after walking across the lawn or the grass takes on gray/brown/blue hues. Remember to turn the system to off after a good soaking rain or install a rain sensor on the system - a low cost investment in water and dollar savings.

If your lawn area is compacted from the heat and too much foot traffic from summer fun with the kids, try the soak and cycle method of watering. That means run each zone for five to eight minutes, then cycle through the system again, even a third time if needed. Each cycle should add up to the total time you normally water each zone, you're just breaking it up to give the lawn time to better soak in.

For brown spots in the lawn, check your system during the day to see if a head is clogged, geyser spraying or watering the street or driveway. Often sprinkler heads get broken from the mow, blow and go services who may not be paying attention to that one pop up that just didn't close after the last watering, and whoops...there goes the head, mowed right off!

There's no need to fertilize, spread weed killers or aerate the lawn in the heat. Just about the time we get used to the heat (not Ferris), we'll be raking leaves, so enjoy the summer!

Got Beetles - Japanese Beetles?

You're one lucky gardener if Japanese beetles haven't moved in for a 24/7 buffet of your landscape. Our yard isn't quite the Golden Corral that other gardening friends have with scores of plants for their unfussy munching palettes. But we have a good amount of silver lace vines that keep them well occupied. I often ask myself why these half-inch sized iridescent green-orange beetle trespassers never seem to get bored or gain weight. I guess when your personal mission in life is to chew, screw and destroy there's never a dull moment plus lots of calories being burned having....well you know.

If you're open on Saturday, July 14, 2018 you have two free opportunities to learn more about Japanese beetles. The two-hour morning outside event, aptly named "Beetle Bash" is sponsored by the Denver Rose Society starting at 9:00 am at the Littleton War Memorial Rose Garden. They have a great line up of horticulture experts to talk about management practices, plus there will be lots of interaction with other gardeners who are seeking answers and solace. For all the details, please click HERE.

Saturday afternoon I'll be teaching a ninety minute class called "Battling the Japanese Beetle" 2:00 pm at the Eugene Field Public Library in the Bonnie Brae neighborhood - Ohio and University. Parking may be tight, so plan on an early arrival and bonus, you can head to Bonnie Brae Ice Cream before or after my talk. I'll cover what battle plans are available - all based on the research by the horticulture experts who have been studying and managing Japanese beetles since their hitchhiked arrival to Riverton, New Jersey in 1916. It only took the beetles one hundred years to make it to Colorado and as you can imagine, they were hungry upon arrival. 

If you can't make either Saturday event, please mark your calendar and plan to attend my next Japanese beetle class, August 2, 6:30 pm at Denver Botanic Gardens, low member fee of $26.00. Read more HERE.

Hope to see you Saturday!  

Got Drought?

Here's the latest drought monitor map from the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Let's hope we get some deep soaking moisture this summer and fall.  

In between your rain dances - click on the links below to help manage your landscape in these dry times.

Fall Lawn Fertilization During Drought

Home Vegetable Garden Management During a Drought in Colorado

Lawn Aeration During Drought

Watering a Home Landscape During Drought 

Water Wise Tips for Colorado Landscapes

Happy Independence Day!

photo from apassionforflowers.blogspot.com