Ahhh the dreaded cicada time. These critters like to make their appearance every 13-17 years. While some people may appreciate these insects, I have always found them to be a little freaky. So I am not particularly looking forward to Brood XIV which the University of Connecticut claims is "among the largest of all 17-year periodical cicada broods." However many people are more curious not about when these insects will emerge, but how it will affect their garden. Here are three things you should know about cicadas and your garden.
1. Know When They Are Coming
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You cannot be prepared for something you don't know about, right? So the first thing you need to know is when can you expect these cicadas in your garden? Cicadas typically emerge between April and June. While some species vary and may arrive in the summer, this massive Brood is expected between April and June, with the exact month depending on the region you live in.
2. Understand How Cicadas Affect Your Garden
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Cicadas' diets could potential be a risk to your garden. That is because Nymphs — the immature, underground stage of cicadas — feed on fluids from tree roots. While that may not affect your garden, when their emerge as adults they could. Reader's Digest shares that is because "Adult cicadas will eat plants sometimes too, sucking sap from young trees, tender twigs, and deciduous shrubs."
In addition, cicadas may be harmful to your garden in other ways. These insects can create small holes in branches and twigs to lay their eggs. Besides being a cosmetic issue for your garden, it can also harm young, deciduous trees. Your one saving grace is that they tend to leave mature trees alone. Additionally, Readers Digest shares that "They also do not lay eggs in shrubs, grasses or wildflowers." So those areas of your garden should be protected.
3. Know Not Only How Cicadas Affect Your Garden But How They Affect You
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While these insects are infinitely creepy looking, they do not pose much of a threat to you, as the gardener. They do not bite or sting and pose little to no threat at all to humans. In fact, cicadas actually do a lot more good than harm. Cicadas are food for a variety of species, some of which include birds, chipmunks, and foxes. Additionally, cicadas help to aerate your soil, which can improve water infiltration and root growth.
