Summer is here, and that means landscape pests like the Japanese beetle, spider mites, and bagworms are out in full force in Kansas. Our goal is to help our customers keep their landscapes beautiful year-round, and that means tailoring our landscaping needs to suit the unique threats and demands of each season.
To help you protect your garden and yard, we offer a comprehensive tree and shrub program that involves treating host plants for insects and diseases on a preventative and curative basis.
Read on to discover more about these three common types of summer landscape pests, and learn how our tree and shrub program will protect your landscape from the damage these pests can cause.
Common Summer Pests in Kansas: Japanese Beetle, Bagworms, and Spider Mites
Plant pests thrive throughout the summer, and three of the most problematic throughout the greater Johnson County area are the Japanese beetle, Bagworms, and Spider Mites. These insects can infiltrate your yard and cause severe damage to your greenery, especially trees and shrubs.
Learn more about each of these pests below and signs that they have made it to your lawn or garden.
Japanese Beetle
From rose and birch to crabapple and buckeye, these voracious beetles eat over 300 species of common plants and are especially fond of flowering plants and soft, over-ripened fruit.
What the Damage Looks Like: You’ll likely notice a clear appearance on leaves after the beetles eat the green top layer. Damage usually occurs over a 4 to 6-week period.
How to Spot Them: Japanese beetles are around 1/2-inch long, are green, and have shiny, copper-brown wings. They’re most easy to identify by the white dots along a black border surrounding their lower wings.
Bagworms
Bagworms are especially common in Kansas, and they most actively feed on Junipers and Arborvitae however can be found on Pines and Spruce at times as well. They hatch around May or early June and carry the bag that they hatched in with them. From August through September, they leave their bag and continue to consume large quantities of vegetation.
What the Damage Looks Like: Evergreen Needles turns brown. Some Needles may fall off.
How to Spot Them: Bagworm Bags will hang from trees in large clusters. If you notice large structures that almost resemble a pinecone, it could be egg sacs. Larvae can be hard to detect, but adult bagworms are up to 2-inches long and are black or brown with large, translucent wings.
Spider Mites
They may be miniscule, but spider mites can cause enormous damage to your landscape. They’re not possible to spot with the naked eye unless you get extremely close and check the underside of leaves.
What the Damage Looks Like: Spider mites feed on the bottom of leaves. You’ll likely notice yellowing and, eventually, a bronzed look with a spotted appearance. Some trees and shrubs will start to drop their leaves due to spider mite infestation. The most common host plants in our Kansas landscape is Burning Bush and Boxwood’s.
How to Spot Them: They’re microscopic, so to really see spider mites, you’d need a magnifying glass. Another way to test for them is to place a sheet of paper under a leaf you suspect they’re on, tap it, and check for tiny specks on the paper moving around.
Schedule a Free Inspection With Green Lawn Inc. Today!
The experienced team at Green Lawn Inc. is here to help you keep your yard and landscape beautiful and healthy all year long. Contact us today for a free inspection and estimate for our Tree and Shrub Program.
With over 30 years in business, we are proud to be one of Kansas’s best landscaping and lawn maintenance providers. Through education and expert service, we help our customers learn more about their lawns and how to keep them in pristine condition.
Schedule a free inspection with a member of our team today!
