Hi,

I'm in Z5. We use Scotts GrubEx (I think we get it at Walmart). Three summers ago, the Japanese beetles were all over a Rose of Sharon tree. We applied the GrubEx and last summer I saw much fewer beetles. This summer they are mostly gone. I found 4 beetles yesterday and one today. Only a few leaves show a little damage.

Just follow the instructions on the bag, that's what we did. Apply every year. Good luck.

Thanks for the information.
Do I need to apply this to the whole yard (1+acre) or just around the areas that seem to have the problem?
I appreciate your help, thanks again.

You are welcome.

It should be applied to the whole yard because it kills a few other bugs.

Hello.....this is a good idea for treatment...and I sympathize with your infestation of Japanese Beetles...but remember that these insects fly as adults and many are coming to your yard from other areas...There is a Japanese Beetle Trap designed to catch adults by attracting them with chemical scent...These can be found often through your local Agricultural extension office...Primarily used for detection the traps do fill up quickly when used in normal Japanese Beetle range areas....so they need to be emptied daily, and multiple traps may be needed in high infestation areas, or during summers when infestation is higher than normal....but they do help and are a practical way to control beetles in the summer months when treating the soil isn't as effective....because grubs have already matured and left the ground as adults. Good luck with the control...I don't envy anyone in a State where these beetles live....Cheers!

The conventional wisdom for beetle bags is that you want your neighbor to use them, not you. If you use them, there is a good chance that there will actually be MORE beetles in your yard than if you weren't using them.

Also, this is the Integrated Pest Management Forum. "This forum is for the discussion of Integrated Pest Management, commonly known as "IPM." This is a set of methods used to maintain healthy gardens with primarily natural controls and thereby minimize situations in which chemicals need to be used." Heading straight for the Grub-Ex (imidacloprid) is not, in my opinion, consistent with the principles of IPM.

If I were you, depending on how tall the crape myrtles are, I would start by filling a bowl half-full of water, adding a squirt of dish detergent, and going out every evening (the beetles are less frisky then) to knock the beetles into the water to drown. The beetles' instinct is to drop to the ground, so just hold the bowl under the branch and tap the branch, and they will fall in. This method is free, environmentally harmless, and effective.

Well, I have a lot to think about here.
I do know though that the trees are too high and too full to capture all of the beetles in a container of soapy water.
There are just too many of them. They haven't really bothered any of my other plants or shrubs so maybe I should just let them munch on the crepe myrtles if it will keep them away from everything else?
I am confused as to what to do but I do know that I don't want them back again next year.

Using Imidacloprid in your yard will only help cut down the numbers of adult beetles if all of your neighbors also do. However that stuff will also kill off the earthworms you need to have a healthy soil that will produce healthy plants that will shrug off the JBs when they do show up.
My next door neighbor is constantly fighting with these buggers, for about 6 weeks, while I seldom see any. The difference is what we do with the soil. She uses the popular synthetic spray fertilizer while I use only compost and shredded leaves as a mulch. She has very little organic matter in her soil while my flower beds have lots. So far this summer I've had a couple of dozen of these buggers on the sand cherries and lately the comfrey but that is it, while the next door garden has had tons.