Japanese Beetle Alert

We've heard about some recent bad infestations of Japanese Beetles in the Twin Cities and southern Minnesota. They are nasty bugs that do alot of damage - the adults skeletonize plant leaves and eat flowers and fruits, while the grubs beed on grass roots resulting in large dead patches of grass.    Remove the beetles by hand if the numbers are low - shake them off the plant into jars filled with soapy water.  Like the Rose Chafer they will multiple in numbers and group together to do their damage.  We have Bonide products available to help control them.   It is unfortunate that insecticides advertised as organic usually do not kill the adults.     For the grubs, early recognition of the problem can prevent destruction.   The best time to apply insecticides for grubs is from mid-July until the end of September.   Learn more about Japanese Beetles and how to control them on the extension.umn.edu website.