Lawn Care and Landscaping News in Kansas City, MO

There’s a buzz going around the Midwest and the Kansas City metro will soon hear it…literally. This year is expected to see the reemergence of the 17 cicadas or sometimes called “locusts” which isn’t actually accurate but they are just as annoying and potentially damaging to lawns and landscaping. Over the next few weeks, the Kansas City area will likely see and hear the 17-year cicadas rising from the soil as they do every 17 years not only in the Midwest but stretching as far as the east coast. While they are quite creepy (to put it mildly), the 17-year cicadas won’t sting, bite, or hurt humans however their mating calls will be loud and quite prominent for at least the next few weeks. The question is: will they affect your lawn and landscaping?

Any mention of cicadas brings up images of biblical plagues that wipe out entire crops and devastate the landscape but the 17-year cicadas are not quite as damaging. Once emerged, male cicadas will swarm to taller trees where their buzzing mating calls can be heard farther away. After mating, the female cicadas will seek out slender and often younger trees where they will drill tiny holes in them to lay their eggs. This can be somewhat damaging especially for trees that see a swarm of the female cicadas but other than covering them with a net, not much can be done to stop them. Once the eggs hatch, they will fall to the ground where they start the 17-year cycle all over again. While the 17-year cicadas will be a rather obvious noise nuisance, they tend not to do much damage to lawns and landscaping other than their carcasses littering the ground around trees where they will decompose and provide nutrients to the trees and their offspring to feed on. At SK Lawn and Landscape, we are always on the lookout for trends in weather and, in this case, potential insect infestations so that when our customers have questions about whether they will have any effect on their lawn care and landscaping, we have answers. Call us today for all of your lawn care, landscaping, and hardscaping needs in the Kansas City area at (816) 372-4965 of CLICK HERE FOR OUR ONLINE CONTACT FORM.