Japanese Beatles eating my willow trees by the creek?

Question

We planted willow trees by our creek last summer. After planting them we noticed that jap.beatles loved eating the leaves. Our creek is full of good critters Frog,fish,crawfish,turtles,snakes,salimanders,dragonflies and dempsiflies.How do I kill the beatles with out harming the creek critters?

Answer 1

Are you hand picking and flicking into soapy water? This is a good organic approach, to save your "good critters". A good question to ask yourself is are your willows stressed? Because normally the Japanese beetles aren't attracted to healthy trees. So you'll want to do what you can to make sure your trees are as healthy and unstressed as possible, as well.

Your best bet is to contact your local county extension agency (link below) and talk to a master gardener there.

Happy Gardening!