I have Japanese Beetles in my trees. What can I do about them?

Question

These are full grown sassafrass and pussywillow trees, and are far too large for me to simply spray for beetles. But there are thousands of them up there, eating away. When it is quiet, you can hear them eating! So, what can I do? Obviously I am going to have to get that stuff that goes into the ground. Bt?? Should I put it around the trees or where? Yeah, I could just cut the trees down, but I like the willow. It is the first thing to bloom around here!

Answer 1

Spray with Sevin it kills them and works for a few weeks. Milky spore takes years to work and if you neighbors don't use it on their lawns then your soon infested again..

Answer 2

Milky Spore is a slow acting, long term solution. It uses the grubs to multiply the spore and further their demise.  Place little mounds like a teaspoon at 12" checkerboard patters.

For immediate relief get some beetle traps. Now, they include a lure, which will draw beetles to them. So place it far to the back of your property. (Unless you have acres). You can place a few in the trees without the lure, and you will still trap plenty. I use one near the porch light out back, and as they seek the light they crawl in and get trapped.

Oh, the grubs are the larvae stage of the beetle. They spend most of their life in that stage.

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