Protecting your (wimpy) trees from cicadas
As you may have heard, cicadas can damage small trees (like wimpy ornamentals) as they lay their eggs in the branches. The Chicago Sun-Times has a good article titled Arbor Day takes cover against cicada swarm, that will give folks with wimpy trees strategies for dealing with the upcoming emergence. If you’re concerned, read the article.
Tips:
- Use netting to protect trees. If you start looking now, you can probably find some at a local Home Depot or garden supply store. Beat the rush.
- Delay plantings until July.
- Don’t use pesticides. It isn’t worth it. Bee populations are in bad shape so we don’t want to do any collateral damage to other species. After 11 years of running this web site, I’ve heard a few stories about family pets dying after consuming pesticide covered cicadas or grass. Don’t do it!
- Native species of trees, like oak and maples, fare much better against cicadas because they’ve co-evolved for 100’s of centuries. Wimpy ornamentals from Asia fare a lot worse. Plant only proud, American trees.
BEES,
Here in south florida, this year we had a man killed in his back yard fron a bee type known as the african bee’s. He did nothing but go into his backyard and notice a cluster in a tree then they sweept down on him, he was covered and died from the stings. Bee keepers are having a problem here with them takeing over. If we must exterminate anything it must be these bees that kill on sight. If any one wants a NewsPress story let me know.
Joe
Comment by Joe Green — May 1, 2007 @ 7:36 pm