Hi, I'm in SE PA too. weren't those beetles just lovely(grrr!) this year? I used Milky Spore last fall, and grubx in late spring. It didn't make a bit of difference.
Even if it killed the grubs in my lawn, I got all of the neighbors beetles.
I got my milky spore and grubx at a local hardware store. It's not hard to find. I think HD and Lowes would have it too. In Lancaster county you can find it at most Ace or Truevalue hardware stores too>
Nina

Try an Agway store if there's one near you. We pulled several thousand japanese beetles off our plants by hand this year, not to mention thousands more caught in traps. Very depressing. We've covered our property with Milky Spore so hopefully we'll see a drop in numbers next year!

Milky Spore does not work that quickly - maybe 3-5yrs.

There are many different chemical products, some to be applied in late sping some better applied in fall. For Example Grub ex will not work in the fall.
Go to a garden center where the employees actually know how and when to apply, or ask your county extension office. When you go to HD or L you may not find a person to help answer your questions. It may be worth the extra buck or two that you save by going to the big boxes.

I'm in SW Chester County and they did not seem as bad this Summer as they did last Summer. However, they were still bad. I put down milky spore 2 years ago and grubx too. My lawn is nice but my neighbors' have the bare spots from the grubs.

When I was planting bulbs over the last few days, I picked a bunch of the grubs from the ground. I had them audition their little squirm for the birds in a platform feeder. Apparently, the birds approved and took them away.

Interesting that the birds will eat the grubs.

We feed the beetles to our fish when we pull them off. We have a big pond with a couple hundred bass & blue gill. The blue gill love the japanese beetles so an evening picking bags full of beetles ends with a banquet for the fish.

(Have to watch for the fish getting full though. Once we threw in to many and had to spend another 2 hours catching them again as they swam ashore or climbed up the pier!)

I was hoping that milky spore would work on my lawn. Last year my lawn got eaten up but the grubs and it looks terrible. I really believe that having my lawn serviced with 5 chemical applications a year by a company did not help and also dried out the roots. The birds used to descend on my lawn and I noticed that they havnt done that the last 3 or 4 years....(could it be they just don't like the chemidals?) They must have been eating the grubs when they descended on the lawn. From now on I will only apply one mild weed killer annually and eliminate this over chemicalization. Anyone have any thoughts on this? its just my common sense.

I agree that too many chemicals can affect the soil in the lawn adversely. I recommend spreading compost on your lawn and feeding it in the fall with a lawn fertilizer. Milky spore has worked for me but it does take 3-4 years to become effective. You can use corn gluten meal in the spring as a pre-emergent to prevent weeds from sprouting.

I have found that HD and Loew's are deficient in many garden products that I use i.e., fish emulsion fertilizer, compost (not composted manure), corn gluten meal, cow and chicken manures and milky spore. Luckily, I live in Lancaster County and we have lots of local garden stores that stock these items.