It’s June, so it’s time to say hello to backyard bugs like aphids, stink bugs, and Japanese flea beetles. These insects feed on many flowers and vegetables and are not exactly welcome visitors. They suck sap, gnaw foliage or dig into fruit or flowers, leaving the garden less beautiful than before they arrived.
Common garden pests they are called parasites for a reason. If you want them gone, June is the time to jump into the race. The longer a pest population is allowed to establish, the harder it is to get rid of them.
Let’s dig in and get rid of June’s garden pests!
Garden pests to watch out for in June
June is known for many pleasant things in the garden, including warm weather, peonies, roses and hydrangeas. However, insect pests also appear, which are attracted to young plants and new flowers. Unlike pollinators, these pests do nothing good for your flowers or vegetables, and you’ll want to jump into the fray.
Here are six common pests to watch out for:
1. Aphids
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Aphids can be one of the most common garden pests. Although each bug is soft-bodied and tiny, you’re unlikely to ever see an aphid by itself. Instead, you’ll see large groups of aphids (green, black, or brown) partying on the undersides of leaves. Party food consists of plant sap which they consume with their specialized piercing/sucking mouthparts. This wilts the plant and stunts growth and, even worse, the bugs leave behind a waste product called honeydew. Despite the “honey” in the term, there is nothing sweet about honeydew. It’s sticky and gooey, hosts soot moldand attracts ants.
What to do in June? Get the hose out early and wipe those bugs down with a strong spray. Or buy a box of live ladybugs at the garden store and leave them in the garden to eat the aphids. If you must bring larger guns, mix liquid dish soap in a pressurized garden sprayer and hit the undersides of the foliage. Content editor Kathleen Walters swears by it Vivosun Hand Pump Sprayer from Amazon.
2. Bromanes
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Picture an armored tank in your mind, then use your imagination to shrink it smaller, smaller, smaller until it can sit on a nickel. This is what a it stinks looks like. The common name refers to the awful smell you’ll experience if you crush one.
But the smell is the least of the problems. Bugs also have piercing mouthparts that they use to pierce the skin of fruits and vegetables – think tomatoespeppers and cucumbers. What’s left behind are ugly, sunken, brown spots.
Here’s a fun job for June: take those nasty thugs early in the morning – when they’re only half awake – and drop them in a bucket of soapy water. If this idea makes you sick, you could invest in an insect catcher and suck the crap out of your plants while you’re out of the “dirt.” This bug vacuum from Amazon it’s made for kids exploring nature, but it works great for adult gardeners too!
3. Flea beetles
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This is the first of this list of garden pests that are pretty, but not pretty enough to want in the garden. Tiny, jumping flea beetles they are small, round and shiny but they smell small BB-like holes to the young, tender foliage of your garden. These holes can seriously damage young seedlings.
You will know these pests are flea beetles because they jump around like fleas. Their favorite foods include eggplant leaves, radishes and arugula. June is peak season and you’ll need to act fast.
You can cover the most vulnerable crops with row covers or use sticky traps to collect mature flea beetles before they reproduce. Alternatively, sprinkle diatomaceous earth on the foliage – it cuts off any insects walking on top. You can find diatomaceous earth for food in the Amazon.
4. Japanese beetles
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Here is a beetle that is even more beautiful than a flea beetle: a Japanese beetle. They’re all dressed up in metallic digs, but they’re not going to party. They are always hungry and will skeletonize leaves so fast your head will spin. Look for them appear on rosesvines and other favorite plants in June.
You may be sorry to hear that the best way to deal with these pests in June is to remove them by hand in the morning and, as with dirt, drop them into a bowl of soapy water. Alternatively, make a garlic spray to keep those beetles away. Mix the garlic cloves and mint leaves in water, boil it and strain it into a spray bottle. Mix in dish soap and more water to fill the entire bottle.
5. Slugs
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Okay, we admit it up front: slugs they are not insects. But no one likes them and they tend to show up on June evenings in your garden and under anything that isn’t tied down. You may never see them, but you will notice that your seedlings look half-eaten and the flowers in your transplants have completely disappeared. And you’ll probably see their slimy trails.
Slugs should also be collected by hand from the garden and thrown into the same soapy water. You’ll want to use a flashlight to get your hands on them at night. A slug alternative is probably more enjoyable for you: buy slug traps with submerged rims or make your own beer trap for slugs to drown in.
6. Spider mites
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There’s a reason they call these vermin spider miteand yes, it has to do with the fine webs you start to see in June between the stems of your plants. The leaves will also give away the gift of these tiny insects – they will look dusty, spotted or lifeless. Small as they are, spider mites suck up chlorophyll from your plants.
Remove the hose to get rid of spider mites. A heavy spray every few days will do. Alternatively, use a Neem oil spray on both sides of the leaves. You can find neem oil on Amazon or your local garden centre.
