you're best bet is to dig in and learn about apple trees and their habits, keeping in mind that they can grow fine for decades with no help there are thousands of named varieties of apples, most either red or green - here's just a few hundred to consider the probable reason you had "high yield" one year and "hardly any" the next is that apples are generally biennial, some extremely so, some not much .... meaning if you allow them to have the maximum crop the bloom and weather allow, they put all their energy into growing this years fruit and no energy into growing next years buds .... with little last year, you can expect another large crop this year, and if you don't thin it heavily and early, no crop again next year :) the most basic plan for pruning is to open the tree to allow good air circulation and light penetration, and for a mature tree to do the pruning during the last half of the growing season, NOT when the tree is dormant I would recommend for starters, no pest sprays until you learn a lot about the particular problems possible in your area, and for a mature tree, NO fertilizers beyond top dressing with a mulch of mature compost [others here may disagree on that] Bill

I'm not sure what the beetle is, but the "soapy cup of death" works with any insect that you can catch and immerse. Just fill a plastic cup halfway with warm water, and add a few shots of hand soap or dish detergent. The idea is to flick the insect off the leaf, and into the cup below. Once in the soup, they can't get out, and they die in a few seconds.

I am a virgin gardener too. And like you, was digging up grass and weeds in the spot where I have planned to plant my veggies. I found a ton of the Japanese beetle grub worms. Of course I immediately Google info on grub worms and now I am horrified at some of the stories I've found online. Now I just really don't know what to do. There's no way I can dig them all up and squash them all! I mean I found at least 30-40 in an area about 7ft by 5ft. Any advice on how to kill them in less than a month before I plant my veggies??? Or am I screwed? Please respond.

I was surfing looking for that same information. I found some information from an old forum. It said it was Sawfly larva. It had several links and one said to use conserve. I also saw a post that said seven would take care of the problem, and I had already dusted mine with seven. I saw the little worms and had killed several. If you type "sawfly on hardy hibiscus" in the google bar it will probably take you to that same link. Good luck, they have really made a mess out of four young plants that I had started. I have 3 older plants that they don't seem to have bothered yet. ConnieSue