A word on Japanese Beetles from someone that has had them for years. I can only speak for the events that have occurred in our yard, and make no predictions of the future. When we moved into our house the very next summer OMG at the Japanese beetles. They seemed to eat most everything, even plants they supposedly left alone after they began to run out of food. I was thinking at the time, "HOLY &^%&!!! Hope it doesn't stay like this!". Ive never seen so many of one type of insect in my life. MASSES stripping plants bare. We gave in and used Sevin in as targeted way possible, and we also applied LOTS of Milky Spore. We knew the MS would have little overall dent, but wanted to at least introduce the organism to the area. Next year, JB are back, but in slightly fewer numbers. Have to pull out the Sevin again, using as little as possible, and as targeted as possible. Next year they are back again, but fewer in numbers again. Repeat for two more years that brings us to today. They are again present this year (and EARLY) but seemed to have mostly run their course. Here's the thing, there was a tiny fraction of the original number. Mostly minor damage to the favorite plants, while several of our plants that originally were attacked, have not needed any treatment for 2-3 years. My significant other treated her roses, but that was by far the most damage. So what happened? Probable several things. The weather the last three years have not helped them. Extreme wet and cold, and extreme dry and hot. This no doubt has taken a toll on their numbers. BUT, their numbers were decreasing before that as well. That is likely because our local wildlife (insect, avian, etc.) learned to utilize them as prey. I even read a few weeks ago about at soil fungus found around the world that has just been shown to prey on insect larvae/pupae and feeding then acquired nitrogen from the insects to the plants they were symbiotic with. The researchers demonstrate that 25% of the nitrogen in the plants originated in the grubs. I bring this up, because you can bet there are variants in the population of this fungus that can attack JB, and they will reproduce on a rich diet of JB grubs. The point of of this is to demonstrate that in many cases, and invader such as JB are at their worst at the start, and then the local flora and fauna have some ability to adjust to them. IN the case of JB, this seems to be true as long as the ecosystem is in reasonable good condition. I'm sure my MS application had little effect, but wholesale application of pesticides probable does far more damage than good. We did use Sevin (carbryl), but I choose it for a number of reasons. It is effective, it does not persist in healthy soil, low toxicity to mammals and birds,and has been around for 50 years and EXTENSIVELY studied. Many of the newer pesticides, and soil treatment pesticides take a year or more for 50% of it to break down. DON"T use any more than you have to, and try to spry only the JB, or in the case of newly planted trees, only the newly planted trees. USE SPARINGLY. Then let nature reduce the problem over time. Lastly, I did some reading on JB, and in areas where they have long been present, they typical are a relatively minor problem. They were originally discover in New Jersey in the early 1920's if I remember correctly. Lets hope the Emerald Ash Borer ultimately goes the same way. Arktrees

salicaceae I realize this thread is five years old but hope it might pop back up on top. I have a similar situation with a 30 year old oak, but no one has mentioned how to stop it from infecting other trees. When i purchased this property 3 years ago, there was a maple that had obvious signs of illness: bracket fungus, mushrooms, exposed rotting wood. We had it removed earlier this year. Just months later, bracket fungus developed on the oak that was its neighbor 20 feet away. This tree had large mushrooms at its base in our first year here. This oak isn’t looking very healthy and i understand that it is already lost, just a matter if time. However… I have two more 30 year old oaks and 3 maples that I would like to protect from infestation. I am not interested in fighting nature, but if there is a preventative, I would like to give it a try. I thought the maple had been infected because there was heavy cover on its roots from nearby cedar, keeping the area wet. With the maple gone, and the cedars, it stays quite sunny, so i thought it would improve the fungus issues. I live in the Huntsville, AL area. No need to reiterate the need for certidied arborist. This theead has been quite educational on that point. I would appreciate input on what if anything can be done to prevent spread. Thank you.

Irma, I have a tale of 2 cities type of story. I planted asiatic jasmine in my garden , not around trees and became invasive, I took it out. One of my neighbors have asiatic jasmine planted around his oak and looks nice, so it probably works for him.

i wonder if you have an adblocker.. that is blocking the picture in which the start a discussion box is ... if you run such.. try turning it off .. and reload the page ... and see if the usual box shows up ... then all you might have to do.. is figure out how to unblock the banner ... ken