Integrated Pest Management
J claims to not have a lot of interest in gardening, but he's right there to defend the plants against intruders, like Japanese Beetles. They came first to nom on the neighbor's elm and grape plants and then zoomed over to eat the roses here. But J trundled out the heavy artillery and got a lot of them this way: And then J went on to get a jar of soapy water and picked off about 50 more over the course of a week, and there are almost no beetles left. The only thing we have ever sprayed for is wasps, but I have found a couple of new, non-toxic, ways of dealing with them. (And it's been so wet there haven't been many). One is a improved version of the milk jug trap; it's a manufactured opening that you insert in the plastic jug of your choice, and it's called The Fatal Funnel. (I have this vague feeling I have done a cover for that one.) The other method of getting rid of wasps is to buy a fake hive and hang it up, which apparently works really well, it scares...