Ugh now I can't spell DIY. I hope Eric VW doesn't read this. I see a field day of jokes. It's all in good fun though.
I use Sevin Dust or Sevin Spray. Either work well for those pesky beetles (and a bunch of other bugs) I'll spray my roses and ornamentals two to three times a year. This year I sprayed part of my lawn that was plagued with moles. No bugs, no grubs, and best of all NO MOLES!
I've been using this on our pole beans, so far I'm not seeing any damage. Homemade Pest Control for Japanese Beetle | eHow
Don't trap, it just lures them in... you end up getting all the damm things from the while neighborhood.
Didn't even catch it til u made mention of it! Note: forgot to hit post earlier. Thanks for the reminder tag, bobdog2o02
Treat you lawn with a grub control. That will drastically cut down on the number of beetles. Avoid using 7 as that is toxic to bees, birds etc. Use a safe organic dust or spray. Your beetles will be gone and your garden will be safe and not toxic. As stated before, avoid traps, unless you can set them up way away from you home.
If you want to protect your burning bushes you could do we we do and spend a bunch of time and money on a garden. Not a single beetle or aphid on our burning bushes this year.
I have been letting weeds grow to find out which ones are good catch traps for certain insects. This year the Japanese beetles are all over the Jewel Weed, and the aphids are loving on the wild prickly lettuce. Nasturtiums are a great catch crop for aphids, and they repel other bad things.
I've been trying to do a bit of research on Sevin and really, other than a ton of opinions and reviews on both sides of the fence, I'm not really finding all that much. I'm guessing if someone likes it, they will use it, and if they believe the negativity's generated on the internet (that travel like wildfire) or just believe in everything organic, well, then they likely won't use it. The part I find interesting is that if it were as toxic as many believe, the EPA and FDA would have surely made sure it was removed from the market. The "Cabaryl" has been around since 1952. Add to it the fact that a good number of farmers have used it since it's inception (on livestock including chickens, and on fruits and vegetables) I haven't seen any birds affected negatively by Sevin, and I'm sure I would see the results since the crows love eating other dead birds. The only dead ones around here are the house sparrows I tend to shoot when I see them trying to build a nest on my porch. Then I move the dead sparrow over to one spot the crows constantly check since that is where I put "LumberJack Sausage" and those sparrows, an occasional chipmunk, and any mice I pick off. But be things as they are, I am considering more natural non toxic ways of getting rid of the pests like the Japanese beetle. Here is one such recipe I found: Olden days before pesticides wood ash was used in dust baths as animals usually roll instinctively removing parasites. The old recipe used cold wood ash, cornstarch and dried blend lavender & geranium flowers or lemon grass. - wood ash salts kills most insects and slugs, cornstarch dehydrates eggs and dried flower blend repels egg laying adults. Yes you can blend a little (DE) either way this version is rather cheap. Diatomaceous Earth (DE) food grade is found in all grains stored so we already eat it in trace amounts daily. In fact it is silica based you find it in those food dry packs silica warning food grade is low percent silica high amounts industrial has hazards. The key issue it must be food grade how it works is dehydrating and attacking exoskeleton via it's fine crystal shards acting on the insect as razors. Since it uses "Wood Ash" I'm sure I could come up with enough to make a nice batch. (like most on this forum)
