Q: I found a large green beetle eating my peaches. What do you think it is? David Schmid, email
A: I’d say it’s a June bug, although some people call them June beetles. They are big and green, and they are enjoying soft and overripe fruit all over Georgia right now. The fruit has to be soft because their mouths and jaws are spatulate (shaped like a paddle) and are too weak to munch on hard fruit. If the creatures were black or brown and about the size of a pencil eraser, I’d call them May beetles. And if the bug was copper-colored, I’d call them Japanese beetles. Each insect came from one of the different C-shaped white grubs you might have found while digging in your garden. A June bug grub is distinctively larger than other grubs, about the size of your index finger, and if you set it on a flat surface, it will travel on its back. The smaller white grubs are identified by counting the number of hairs on their rear ends, which I will leave to the entomologists in my audience to perform. At this stage, particularly when they’re feeding on fruit, control of the adult beetles is best done by handpicking. An industrious child could be commissioned to be your agent in this endeavor if the compensation is adequate.
Q: I have a 30-year-old dogwood that for the past three years has been slowly declining in flower production. It did produce light flowers and leaves this year, but then it suddenly just died in the course of three days. Is there something in the soil that killed it? Anita Burnett, email
A: “Threescore years and ten” is a person’s allotted life span, according to Psalms 90:10. But “one score years and ten” is my estimation of a dogwood tree’s normal life span. Stressors like drought, heat, borers, and lawn mower damage eventually take their toll. In light of this, it’s not surprising that yours died. In the future when a dogwood or any tree is in decline, the best things you can do are to apply 3 inches of pine chips on the ground out to the ends of the branches (to keep the soil cool) and water deeply once per week in summer. Fertilizer usually does more harm than good, but you can sprinkle cottonseed meal (10 pounds per 100 square feet) onto the ground before you apply the mulch to give a light feeding.
Email Walter at georgiagardener@yahoo.com. Listen to his occasional garden comments on “Green and Growing with Ashley Frasca” Saturday mornings on 95.5 WSB. Visit his website, walterreeves.com, or join his Facebook page at bit.ly/georgiagardener for his latest tips.
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