The 4th of July I was at my best friend's house where she is just learning to become a gardener. She told me to come look at her rose bushes which were "filled with ladybugs." My first thought was, oh no she must have aphids but when I looked they were covered with Japanese beetles! As I'm trying to Google what would be safe to use on them she grabbed her spray bottle of water and peppermint essential oil and sprayed the plants. Not only did they disappear but several hours later they were still gone. Just a thought.

Relaying my experience here in the Denver, CO area. Numerous stores (Home Depot, Lowe's, Ace etc) have recommended Neem oil to me. That appears to do nothing in my yard. Cutting off the rose buds and submerging them in a bucket of soapy water not only killed the existing beetles, but seems to have dramatically reduced the return of beetles to my roses. Also, putting grub killer in my yard in the spring/early summer appears to have dramatically slowed the onslaught from Japanese beetles. I haven't been able to eliminate them completely, but I have far less beetles on my roses this year than last and those two tools I've listed are the difference. Like I said, Neem oil seems to do just about nothing. I will be more aggressive on the grub killer when they return to the ground but I worry about killing grubs that the robins like in my yard in the spring. I hope I'm not killing robins inadvertently as well! Update: I've been spraying the beetles on my roses with dish soap and water the past couple days and just found that it is killing them! I'm using Dawn Ultra antibacterial liquid dish soap. I fill the spray bottle with water first, then squeeze in some dish soap so it doesn't create foam. I read that this will stick their wings together so they can't fly and expose them more to predators. I don't think I have any of their predators around because there are now a bunch of dead ones on the ground below my roses and nothing is eating them.

Now I'm planting Geraniums hanging from a tree over my chicken pin

Beautiful! I hate Japanese beetles!!

This year was the 1st time I experienced those beetles and they ate my Easter Lily down to the stem and I used some dish washing liquid mixed with water. This mixture did an excellent job.

Great advice!! Got to get after those grubs. But if you're on the losing end of a battle with adults, hand picking is tedious. Put a little sand in the bottom of your shop vac, and give the plants a once over. Japanese beetles would attack my climbing hydrangea and pole beans. We'd vacuum twice a day, alternating between plants to let them settle back down. Would loose a few leaves, but very efficient collection method to limit damage and decimate the population.

I think the Japanese beetles prefer my grapes vines even more than my roses. I have used BT on brassicas to kill the caterpillars but was not aware of BTg so thanks for the tip. I usually knock them into a bucket of water (without soap) then toss them into the pond to be eaten by the frogs. The frogs make short work of them.

If you really want to see them, you can carry a electric torch/flashlight and check out the garden in the evening or night.

Discovered by accident that they love the smell of my homemade cleaner. Has tea tree, cedar, and lemongrass so I guess it's the lemongrass; also contains dawn dish soap. Kills fleas on surfaces. Wish beetles would drown in a dish of it.

We live in Oregon and these guys love our raspberries! They ruin our raspberries 😵‍💫

Every time I do a research into my garden issues, I end up finding the answer and the solution to the problem on this channel. Jason, thank you so much for sharing your expertise for free ))

Hello Jason; for sure so many of us are grateful for your extensive information. I keep all your videos not only because they are of great help should I have problems, but because they are all so interesting and I enjoyed them. As you know I just have a small garden which is more than plenty for me, and I adore my roses 🌹. Thank you 🌹🌺🌸

Thank you Jason. I will be ready this rose season. Very appreciated to get clear information.

What an amazing job you’ve done in explaining and describing this pest and things we need to know to fight the fight for our garden! Thank you, so much…👍❣️

I just found these on one of my plants outside and lo and behold your channel pops up in my recommendations. Thank you so much!

Thanks!!! new viewer. Very much to the point of subjects!!! Many other garden youtubers talk too much unessential to the subjects. I click off less than a minute viewing them.

This is great! This is more detailed in solutions than I've seen in rose books. I have a container garden of roses, geraniums, hydrangeas and more, so when they find me, they party.

I saw damaged roses a few days ago. It is a good review. Thank you!

Thank u sooo much for this. Last year we had a bad invasion and have been looking everywhere on the internet how to deal with the problem. Finally, after your video, Feel armed and ready to get 'em!!!!!

I’m so glad to have found this video. I have been battling Japanese beetles for two years on my roses. I now know what to do. 🙏🏽