Ace: Look's like you've got me here. The first FAQ indeed mentions control of the June beetle. This is one of those rare cases where product claims have actually understated their real ability to control pests. Oddly, the last FAQ on the list seems to directly contradict the first. This is the first time I have seen a claim that milky spore controls anything other than Japanese beetles. But the news may be better than that, based on experience here in the past growing season after application of milky spore (as I recall) in late June, 2006. The only previous milky spore application I made was around 1979, and the effect indeed lasted nearly 20 years, although it seemed to weaken in the last few years of that period, and I did have infestations of other types of beetles, as well as some increase in JB's. It turns out that the brown beetles I have always called June bugs are really one or another type of Chafer Beetle, which comes in the Masked Chafer, Rose Chafer, European Chafer varieties, and several other related species. The true June Beetle looks more like a Japanese Beetle on steroids, larger and flatter than the JB, but with a similar iridescent green color of the head and wings. This beetle has never been present in serious numbers here, but the Chafers have often defoliated particulars targets of their choice, especially plum trees and sweet cherries, and done quite a bit of damage to other fruit trees and garden crops too. Chafers feed mostly at night, and their season is usually shorter than the JB, but they are no more welcome. This past season, I not only saw no Japanese beetles, but almost no Chafers either, leading me to wonder if the milky spore had some effect on their larvae too. One swallow does not make a spring, and one season is not really a scientific test, but it is extremely unusual for me to go through a summer season with almost no beetles of any kind. One other thing I noticed in the FAQ's is some confirmation of my belief that the JB does not fly far before beginning to feed, and that the effects of the milky spore will continue to enlarge in area so long as there are larvae to infect. This is consistent with my experience, since I have no JB's, but properties only a few hundred feet away still do. It certainly seems worthwhile to put this milky spore down, although I would go with the pure culture that comes in a can, not the bagged stuff for spreader application which has a very low component of active spore. Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

first .. 4 silver maples in one bed .... get out garden chair.. and a beer/bottle of wine... and go sit out there for a few hours in late spring.. and decide which 3 you are going to take out ... you do not need them all there ... at least two ... maybe when they were smaller.. but not now.. and do it.. while they are still small and can be done by you or for very cheap ... kill the poplar now... if it lived ten years.. i would be surprised.. and then it will cost you a couple hundred to get it out of bed b ... conifers are not really a problem ... pines/spruces .. etc ... one of the trees looks like a sweetgum ... i just moved one last year... 15 feet tall .. all roots within the first 4 inches of soil ... not the best i suppose ... cherries are wonderful ... look .. remove some.. lessen your problems ... and deal with the rest.. we all are.. its nothing to get depressed about.. geez ... with trees that compete... always .. ALWAYS broadcast water.. and skip fert .. or broadcast it ... if you hand water only the hosta.. where do you think the tree will send roots .. so if you spread the water.. it will spread the roots... same theory for food ... ALWAYS dig a hole.. bare root the hosta.. and replant with the native soil ... and the tree wont know the hosta is there ... only its first drink .. then broadcast water ... plant them forever.. every time you dig a hole.. and sever a root.. the tree will put out a billion new feeder roots .. so we want to go in there as infrequently as possible ... and bottom line.. they are hosta ... if one doesn't thrive there.. move it .. other will grow like weeds and not care ... good luck' ken

You are so right, kimmsr. However, insect pests and plant diseases are a part of the normal scheme of things, too. Good, healthy soil, and strong and healthy plants can tolerate a balanced population of the problem organisms. Those conditions do nothing prevent pests and pathogens from arriving. What you have been repeating over and over is tried and true. Nothing new, but certainly worth repeating. It is also important to know that a healthy garden will have aphids, will have mites and caterpillars and will have billions of spores of pathogens. Learning to accept and manage the problems is all part of 'culture'. It's good for gardeners like momma to know that, and to learn about some of the many methods of control they have to choose from. Momma has done a good thing in switching fertilizers, perhaps. She might also try to be even more watchful, especially when the crops are young, so that she can do some hand removal before those 'green buggers' get the upper hand. Which they will do, no matter how 'good, healthy, and strong' everything may be. A healthy tomato plant doesn't repel aphids....the plant is just able to withstand the onslaught longer.

Khalid wrote in another thread: "Then I stopped spraying even any organic matter. I gave more calcium to my roses which made the soft branches and leaves harder thus making it relatively unattractive for the pests. This reduced the affected bushes / leaves to a good extent." Agree with Khalid, folks in rainy climate lime their soil, either in late fall or early spring, depending on how many inches of rain they get. Rain is acidic at pH 5.6, as the pH drops, less calcium and potassium are available. The best lime to use is Espoma Garden Lime (sold at Walmart for $10 per 5 lb.). It has 20% calcium and 10% magnesium ... both are essential in keeping leaves thick so pests cannot invade. From the above chart, around pH 5.6 (rain water), less molybdenum, less magnesium, less calcium are available. Next nutrients that are less: phosphorus, potassium, and nitrogen. I already posted in Organic Rose my experiment that I did with 2 identical Thai basil: I lowered the pH of one with acidic cracked corn (pH 4), plus gypsum (17% sulfur) .. that Thai basil' leaves became pale, plus THINNER due to less calcium and magnesium available. Then I saw blackspots on a Thai basil for the 1st time !! The other basil I planted in my alkaline clay (pH near 8), and it's twice taller plus really thick & glossy leaves (more available nitrogen, potassium, sulfur, calcium, and magnesium). But leaves were just a bit pale due to less iron at high pH, so I gave it blood meal, has chelated iron, and leaves became dark green. I once planted a bok-choy vegetable next to my patio with a limestone base, so the soil is very alkaline, pH 8. The leaves were dark-green, but its so tough that I boiled it for one hour, and it's STILL so fibrous that my teeth can't handle, let alone some tiny pests like aphids, rose slugs, or midge. Rose slugs (sawfly larvae) are very rare in my alkaline clay, unless I lower the pH with my experiments: Put acidic cracked corn (pH 4) in potting soil, and roses got rose-slugs from THINNER LEAVES in acidic rain (calcium, magnesium, and potassium drops when pH drops). Mirandy rose got a big-fat rose-slug on it for the 1st time. Why? It's next to a tree, and the tree robs the soil of calcium, magnesium, and potassium. Plus tree roots secret acid, so the soil became even more acidic with rain (pH of rain is 5.6). Used molasses, plus vinegar, plus sulfate of potash (21% sulfur), plus gypsum (17% sulfur) ... such acidic solution made leaves thinner, plus the stinky molasses really attract sawfly which give birth to rose-slugs. CONCLUSION: The best solution for pests is to raise soil pH by using dolomitic lime such as Espoma Garden lime (20% calcium and 10% magnesium). My soil is dolomitic clay, so I don't have midge, rose-slugs (sawfly larvae), nor aphids, unless I use acidic fertilizer. When there's tons of acidic rain, I throw pea-gravel on top of roses that like it alkaline, pea-gravel has many alkaline minerals to make leaves thick, glossy, and to prevent pests.