How to Keep Japanese Beetles Away

Japanese beetles have no natural predators in the United States, although some species of bird will eat them.

Japanese beetles are to plants what pirhanas are to misguided cows in rivers, but unfortunately for plants, the stories about Japanese Beetles are all true. Once a Japanese beetle lands on a plant and find the taste to its liking, it releases a chemical into the air that summons every hungry Japanese Beetle in the area to come and join the feast. In less than a day, Japanese Beetles can demolish not just a single plant, but an entire landscaped garden and the surrounding area. Fortunately, there are ways to keep Japanese Beetles away from your lawn and garden areas. However, you must be diligent because once they get in, they are very hard to convince to leave.

Things You'll Need

• Crushed garlic
• Spray bottle
• Castor oil
• Japanese beetle traps
• Landscape netting
• Bucket
• Liquid Soap
• Bird feeders

Instructions

How to Keep Japanese Beetles Away

1. 

   Spray your plants with a mixture of water and crushed garlic. Use 2 tablespoons of crushed garlic and 2 cups of water to create a nasty-tasting spray that Japanese Beetles hate. Let the garlic and water mixture sit for about 24 hours before you use it. Spray your plants with this spray every couple of days, being sure to reapply it after it rains. Be sure to spray both the tops and the bottoms of the leaves or the beetles will just crawl underneath the leaf and chow down.

2. Treat plants with an insecticidal spray made of Castor oil and water. Use 2 tablespoons of Castor oil and 2 cups of water. Spray the tops and the bottoms of the leaves just as you would with the garlic spray. Castor oil will actually kill the Japanese Beetles, but you should try the garlic spray first because Castor oil also kills beneficial bacteria that can help your plants grow.

3. Net your plants when the beetles are particularly thick. Japanese beetles tend to land on the top of a plant and work their way down, so they can often be deterred by netting that prevents them from taking that first tasty bite.

4. 

   Drown strays in soapy water. If you have one Japanese Beetle, the odds are good that you will soon have many, many more. To prevent this, go into your garden in the early morning while the beetles are still sluggish with a bucket of soapy water. Pick the strays off your plants and drown them.

5. Try beetle traps. The jury is still out on just how effective Japanese beetle traps actually are. In order to use them with any degree of success, you must place them downwind from the area that you are trying to protect to lure the beetles away from your garden.