Have you heard about the 2 different varieties of cicadas that are going to emerge this month? Talk about double trouble! Luckily, the central area of Wisconsin should be safe from them. I’ve looked at the state maps and they show that the bugs should stay near the southern border of the state. While that’s good news for our gardens, I’m still going to take a little precaution just in case a few break off from the pack and move north.
Typically I don’t plant my garden until Memorial Day weekend or a few days later. We often get a late frost in mid-May or heavy Spring rains that would destroy young plants so I wait until the beginning of June. This year that alone would aid in avoiding the cicadas as they should be emerging in the next couple of weeks. The life cycle of the emerging cicadas is just 3-4 weeks so waiting until June to plant should allow us the time to determine if we have some of the bugs in our area or not.
I have some perennials already growing in my garden such as strawberries, blueberries, mint, chives, and asparagus. These are all located in close proximity to each other so it’s easier for me to cover these plants as necessary. A roll of netting, garden tunnel plastic or bed sheets all would be effective cover material to keep the bugs from munching.
Garden netting is something you should consider investing in for other pests too like the potato beetles and squash bugs. I don’t like to use pesticides around the food I eat so putting up a barrier to your plants is the cleanest method of bug protection. Hopefully the experts are right and we won’t see the cicadas, but a little planning ahead can help you avoid utter destruction later.
Liz Walker Real Estate 