Denny's Soapbox

Time for Answers to Some Great E-mails

Just a year ago, I was flooded with questions from panicky homeowners who were worried about the health and appearance of their landscape after the April 3rd hard freeze. This year’s questions have been the complete opposite. I’m receiving all upbeat e-mails including ones about how blooming great their landscape is this spring. Here is a sample of some of the timely questions I’ve received recently:

Question – We had loads of cicadas 4 years ago. I recently heard on the news that they’ll be back again this year. I thought they were 17 year cicadas. Why are they back so soon?

Answer – The cicadas you had 4 years ago were part of Brood 10 which last visited us in 1987 before 2004. What’s coming this year is Brood 14, which was last here in 1991.

• Brood 10 is located on the Westside of Hamilton County and near the river on the Kentucky side.

• Brood 14 (this year’s batch) is located on the eastside of Hamilton County and all of Clermont County.

There may be a few neighborhoods on the border of these areas which could get a few cicadas from each brood. These communities consist of Sharonville, Kenwood, Silverton and Madeira to name a few.

Question – My family moved here from the Boston area 3 years ago. My neighbor told me our home is located in the area that will be getting cicadas this year. How do cicadas affect trees and shrubs and what can we do to protect our landscape?

Answer – Fear of cicada damage to your landscape is a common fear that you should not have. The final two months of an adult cicada’s life consists of emerging, mating, females laying eggs (so they can start the process all over), and then they die. While cicadas are emerged, they do not feed on any of your plants (cicadas don’t even have a working mouth). The females do lay and deposit their eggs on the ends of shade and flowering tree branches. These eggs hatch rather quickly and then you have new little nymphs which fall to the ground and start working their way back into the soil to start the next 17 year cycle.

Some of the twig ends may die back a little bit due to the egg slitting process, but this is no more damaging than a simple pruning of your trees with shears. Adult cicadas do not bother evergreens, flowering shrubs, lawns, or any flowers. So go ahead and plant some new ones with no fear at all.

Question – Is it safe to plant roses if they’ve started blooming in their pots at the nursery?

Answer – The only time you should be concerned about planting when plants are leafed out and/or in bloom is when you are considering transplanting from one spot in the landscape to another. The best and safest time to do this type of transplanting is before the plant starts to grow in early spring.

Plants for sale at nurseries can go straight to a spot in your landscape without even knowing they’ve been moved. The only precaution you should take with any blooming or leafy plant is wind protection on their ride home. Wind burn can occur when the foliage is exposed during transportation. If the plant has to hang out of the trunk, make sure the leaves and blooms are wrapped before leaving the nursery.

Question – When is it safe to plant my tomatoes?

Answer – You should wait to plant tomatoes until after the fear of frost is eliminated and the soil is warmer. We can still have a light frost all the way up to the 25th of May. Three years ago we had an overnight frost on May 23rd. Tomatoes as well as peppers are very sensitive to cool soil. You’ll be playing Russian roulette if you decide to plant before the recommended date.

A safe way to get a head start with your vegetables is to plant them in containers, also known as container gardening. The tomato plant and container can be placed in the garage on nights when the temperatures are predicted to be cool.

Peas, lettuce, and all members of the cole family (cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower) are safe to plant now. They love cooler weather.