Rid Your Garden Of Japanese Beetles With A Simple 2-Ingredient Mixture
Tending to your yard and nurturing it to be one of the most beautiful on your block means absolutely nothing if the wrong pests are introduced. No matter how well you fertilize and water your lawn and garden, it can all be destroyed in a matter of weeks or months in the presence of savage insects like the Japanese beetle. These brilliantly-colored yard destroyers feed on basically everything that makes your lawn beautiful — grass, shrubs, flowers, trees, and leaves. That means your perfect little garden doesn't stand a chance once the beetles are in full swing. However, because they have a terrific sense of smell, you can get rid of Japanese beetles with a very smelly mixture of an essential oil they can't stand.
The Japanese beetle is considered an invasive species after being mistakenly introduced in the United States via a 1916 cargo ship from Japan. These bugs ended up causing mayhem throughout the eastern region of the country. Consumers of over 300 species of plants, Japanese beetles can decimate the greenery in your yard, which is why you have to be proactive. An essential oil solution is all you need to lay waste to your beetle population.
Spray your yard with a peppermint oil and water mixture
Japanese beetles are a nuisance, but their sensitivity to scents makes them easy to get rid of without resorting to chemical warfare. You can save a boatload of money on pesticides and insecticides by just using essential oils. There are a number of aromas these beetles can't stomach, such as peppermint, wintergreen, and neem oil. Since peppermint is one of the more common oils and is easy to find, you should get a dropper bottle of it.
According to Pest Pointers, you just need to mix 10-15 drops of peppermint oil per 1 cup of water to get your mixture. If you have a bigger area to cover, then use that exact ratio. Pour the mixture into a spray bottle and saturate your yard with it. The great thing about peppermint is that it's hated by a lot of other yard critters, too, so you're repelling plenty of pests with one stone. Or bottle.
When using essential oil mixtures, dilution is key. You don't want to hurt yourself, your family, or pets by spraying these liquids onto the yard without proper mixing. Also, while this recipe is very potent against them, you still need to apply it often to purge the insects from your lawn and keep Japanese beetles out of your garden.