use a systemic for roses...in blue container by bayer. a basjoo being an ornamental will not matter because you don;t eat the fruit. i used it on mine here in florida and worked great. and i think the lizards may have helped too. they love the stand of basjoos.
cliff

Wow, I never knew they liked bananas. I have bananas right on my porch and never had a problem but the plum tree right at the end of the short driveway is eaten up by them! Maybe you should plant a plum nearby, lol.

seriously - you can use another plant as a 'trap'. Something they will like better. Jap beetles really like roses. In my case, they really liked my Ensetes :(

seahorse

Cliff,

I wish we had lizards here, I have been picking them off by hand and stepping on them. I hate them.

Banana,

I don't want to plant anything that will bring them in my yard.

Seahorse,

I had a ton of high bred tea roses and took almost all of them out, they seem to like the white roses the best, it might be a color thing.

Whatever you do don't buy a bettle trap, it will bring every beetle from miles around to your yard and they will lay millions of eggs and next year you will be infested.

How do people get away with selling those things.

Zonepusher

I had the same problem a week ago with bettles eating my basjoos. It didn't take long for them to start doing damage. I sprayed them with Sevin and it took care of the problem.

I have found that by planting white geranium near anything the beettles like the bettles eat the geranium instead and then they die. They prefer the geranium above all else but it is their doom.

I have found that Japanese beetles love certain colors, white being one so I try not to plant anything that they like to eat.

The blue container line by Bayer works well. Check the ingredient list for imidacloprid. The also have a spray, but I prefer the tree and shrub drench - it is less messy and it last for up to a year.

HOWEVER, WARNING - I have not tried it on my basjoo. It only gets a few nibbles occasionally. But I do use it on my hibiscus, crape myrtle and red maple. The old climbing rose and raspberries I leave for the beetles.

After several years of using the drench, I find that the beetle population in my yard has dropped greatly. Of course, that could have something to do with the droughts we've had as well.

This is a photo of my grove in 2007, It stared in 2004 it gets bigger and bigger every year.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:405246}}

Put sevin dust on it. You only need to dust it a few times during the season and when it gets rained off you notice it's not white anymore. Then after season, cut off the chewed places with scissors and you won't notice it anymore.
I HATE japanese beetles!