Jeremy Herndon

Last summer I was disheartened to find Japanese beetles on our crape myrtle shrubs that we had just planted the year before.  I knew Japanese beetles were problematic with roses, but I did not know that they liked crape myrtles too!  There were only a few beetles on the shrubs, so I left them alone but I am thinking that might have been a mistake.  Leave a few alone now, and you are likely to have hundreds the next year!

I really don’t like those Japanese beetle traps that you see in people’s yards.  To be honest I have used them in the past and they work okay, but I think they are a pain in the neck to use.  I’d rather use an organic pest spray.  I went on the Internet this morning to look for some organic pest control info and found a website that sells organic pest spray that is supposed to kill on contact, and it kills a variety of garden pests, including aphids, cinch bugs and beetles.

I think that this year I am going to give it a try this year.  If it works well, I might even buy a couple of rose bushes for the next year!