It's Japanese Beetle Season

Tip of the Week: It's Japanese Beetle Season.

When it comes to tackling those pesky grubs, starting with the source of their life cycle - the lawn - is key. Look out for dead spots as an indicator, and taking a preemptive treatment approach is highly recommended. Once you've identified the presence of grubs, it's time to dive into effective treatment methods to ensure your lawn stays healthy and grub-free for seasons to come.

Once you know you have grubs in your lawn, how do you proceed with treatment?

Begin by turning down the amount of water for your lawn. They flourish in a warm and wet environment. Your lawn will thank you for it. There are many products on the market to treat grubs that are organic. If you can get your whole neighborhood to treat the grubs and stop them before they emerge, it could drastically cut back the population.

As much as we hope that our neighbors will participate, what do we do once they do emerge to protect our plants?

We have all seen those traps at the store and it's satisfying to see a dead pile of them in the bag, however, the next wave is around the corner. If you do use the traps, put them far away from the plants they love most like Roses, Grape Vine, Virginia Creepers, Annuals, and some fruit trees. The beetles are attracted to these traps which in turn brings more of those buggers into your yard. Put the traps on the outskirts of the property, or in a neighbor's yard that has chosen not to treat them. Get permission first!

Stay away from systemic and chemical treatments as they will still come to your lovely bushes to take a taste and then go off and die. In the meantime, those products hurt our friends, the pollinators, and the microorganisms in the soil and are not pet and kid-safe.

Time-consuming as it is you want to get out there with a soapy bucket and knock them off. You can also

lay a trap of plants you will sacrifice such as echinacea on the parameters of your garden. There are a few natural sprays, however, they are still not effective to stop them from decimating your flowers. Another last resort is just don’t put plants in your garden that are their favorite food.