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You are here: Home / Gardening / 7 Safe Ways to Get Rid of Japanese Beetles in the Garden

7 Safe Ways to Get Rid of Japanese Beetles in the Garden

May 2, 2016 by Ann 39 Comments

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Have you discovered Japanese beetles in your yard? If so you are wondering how to get rid of Japanese Beetles! Here are safe ways to get rid of Japanese Beetles in the garden. These methods are mostly natural and do not include using harsh chemicals.

7 Safe Ways to Get Rid of Japanese Beetles in the Garden- Japanese beetles can wreak havoc on your garden plants. Here 7 ways to repel these pests safely.

Japanese beetles are one of the worst pests to have around your garden. They can wreak a ton of havoc, and in no time at all the plants and leaves look terrible. Fortunately, there are some ways you can battle against these bugs and get rid of Japanese beetles in your garden – and in a safe manner too!

If you enjoy gardening but hate seeing your plants get destroyed by these pests, check out the 7 Safe Ways to Get Rid of Japanese Beetles in the Garden below.

how to get rid of Japanese Beetles from your yard and garden so they don't devastate your plants.

7 Safe Ways to Get Rid of Japanese Beetles in the Garden

1. Handpicking: Removing the Japanese beetles you see manually may be time-consuming, but it’s one of the most effective ways to get them out of the garden. Fill a bucket with hot soapy water and hold it beneath the plants as you gently shake them. The bugs will fall into the water and drown by morning. The smell they give off in the bucket will help fend off other beetles.

2. Baby Powder: Using baby powder is a great deterrent for smaller gardens or just a selection of plants. Sprinkle the leaves with the powder, just enough for a dusting. This will alter the taste and smell of the plants, leaving them undesirable to the beetles. Make sure you sprinkle on more baby powder after each rain.

3. Clean Up: Japanese beetles are attracted to an area by rotting wood or diseased plants. Before it’s time for them to start coming around, be sure to clean up your yard, particularly the area around your garden.

4. Garlic: The scent of garlic is unappealing to many garden pests, and Japanese beetles are no exception. You can use garlic one of two ways. First, plant garlic as an outer border for your garden to keep the bugs away. Secondly, make a spray using garlic powder and baby oil. Spritz the leaves with it every few days to keep the beetles from munching on your plants.

5. Milky Spores: Milky spore is an organic repellent for Japanese beetles. It infects the grubs before they reach the beetle stage. When they die, they release even more milky spores into the ground, killing more grubs. This method can take a year or two to fully be effective, but it can work well for 10-15 years once implemented.

6. Nematodes: Nematodes work similar to the milky spores in that they kill grubs after entering their body. When used in combination with milky spores, nematodes can greatly reduce and control the Japanese beetle population around your plants.

7. Plan your Planting: There are some plants that Japanese beetles tend to gravitate to way more than others. If you have a huge pest problem, it may be best to stay away from their favorites. Japanese beetles like apple, birch, rose, crape myrtle, pin oak, cherry, and plum. Opt for plants least favored by the beetles, such as ash, redbud, magnolia, hemlock, dogwood, and boxwood.

7 Safe Ways to Get Rid of Japanese Beetles

 

Do you know of another safe way to get rid of Japanese beetles? Let us know in the comments!

More Ways to Get Rid of Garden Pests:

7 Natural Ways to Repel Rabbits from your Garden

Using Ladybugs to Naturally Eliminate Aphids

5 Homemade Bug Spray Recipes

How to Make a Homemade Earwig Trap

5 Natural Ways to Repel Deer

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Comments

  1. Kwame Ocansey says

    July 5, 2021 at 12:10 pm

    I have been gardening all my 77 years starting with my grandmother and then my mom. If I ever QUIT this wonderful vocation, it will be because I give up on fighting these EVIL suckers. You think of any strategy, I have used it before. Nothing comes close to hand picking and either smashing them or drowning them. I usually pluck up to 300 a night, hoping for less catch the next night. Similar to mankind’s effort to find cure for cancer, it astounds and saddens me to think that we have no single solution to an EVIL beetle that metes out so much havoc and damage to thousands of farmers/gardeners like me.

    Reply
  2. Roy Cothran says

    December 27, 2020 at 7:48 am

    cedar oil mixed with water and sprayed on your plants is a good deterrent for Japanese beetles and other insects. if you have cedar wood available you can put some small pieces in boiling water and then let it stand for 24 – 36 hours and make a spray from the water. baby powder sprinkled on the plant leaves also helps.

    Reply
  3. Mel says

    July 8, 2020 at 2:02 pm

    I place the bait on a poll and suspend it over our pond about three feet above the water. I do not put the bags under the bait choosing to let the beetle fall into the pond. Within about 24 hours fish, frogs, turtle are churning the water under the traps. Beetle have less than a second before they become fish food. I put two or three of these traps out every year and look forward to the satisfaction of revenge.

    Reply
    • Rolande says

      June 1, 2021 at 7:30 am

      Did I hear an evil cackle? LOL!

      Reply
  4. Fae says

    June 16, 2020 at 11:15 am

    We seem to get them in our neighborhood we live in southern
    Indiana it’s second week of June and they are back we’re trying neem oil last year we hand picked them that was a lot of work is there anything that can be put around plants and trees to got up and out of the branches to keep them away
    Lost in Evansville ind

    Reply
    • Mel says

      July 8, 2020 at 2:07 pm

      I have had some luck using pine shavings from the farm store. It’s often used for horse beeding. It also works as a mulch that is free of poison ivy.

      Reply
    • catherine says

      July 30, 2022 at 7:53 pm

      I also live in Southern Indiana.
      My first encounter with, Japanese was three years ago.
      They KILLED both of my Beautiful weeping cherry trees.
      This year it’s the Grapes and Knock out roses.
      The leaves look like, screen. Nothing I do WORKS !.!
      I grew up on a farm, Ky. No. Japanese beetles.
      MADNESS ! !

      Reply
  5. Tree Maiden says

    April 25, 2019 at 12:47 pm

    Last year I discovered a swarm of them on my Virginia Creeper…so I dragged out my industrial strength wet / dry vacuum and filled it about a 3rd of the way with warm sudsy water and stirred it up so it was sudsy on the top too. Then I went up and down my fence sucking them up into the vac and let them soak overnight––Poured them out and did
    it again until they were gone…. Interestingly, I noticed a huge swath of spider webs that extended along the base of the fence…perhaps they too were waiting for the little fat
    bugs to drop into their webs. I didn’t disturb them but I don’t think they liked the noise of the vacuum. I’ve also heard that chickens really love them so good luck with that!
    I think the trick is to be aggressive––be on the lookout, get to it early when you first see them, and keep at it from the very first siting until they die or move on.

    Reply
    • Rolande says

      June 1, 2021 at 7:32 am

      I read that the sooner you catch and drown without crushing them, chances are the scouts won’t send reinforcements…

      Reply
  6. Connie says

    March 1, 2019 at 7:22 pm

    Just remember when using bate bags to put them away from garden or trees you want left alone. The bait will draw them in from all directions. Catch them before they do damage.

    Reply
  7. Donna says

    February 14, 2019 at 8:32 am

    I use the yellow trap bought at Menards. The bags are so small so I attach a thick garbage bag and catch millions of them. Hang from fence or the tree. And I put a 5 gallon bucket with water under the bag to catch even more. Change the bag when it is too heavy For them hatching and only around for six weeks or so it’s like fighting a war. But the more I kill the better.

    Reply
  8. Ike says

    August 3, 2018 at 5:07 pm

    Hi,oh I’m so Sorry! I do know how you feel! I hate those ###! I live in Wisconsin also,& have sprayed,picked them off,etc.etc it breaks your heart! All the time & money you put into your gardens & flowers. Is Milk Spore something you can purchase in local Home Depot, Fleet Farms?? Good Luck to you!!

    Reply
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On Premeditated Leftovers I share simple recipes made with whole foods, practical shopping tips, time saving techniques, and meal planning strategies. I also share tips for minimizing food waste, so more of the food that is purchased ends up on the table.

While volunteering as a budget counselor, I realized that food is the element of most people’s budgets where they have the greatest control. I set out to develop low-cost recipes from scratch to prove it’s possible to create delicious meals on a limited budget. Eating well while spending less is about more than just creating recipes using inexpensive ingredients; it’s about creatively combining ingredients so you don’t feel deprived and are inspired to stick to your budget.

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