if you do need to net, you could try something like this: https://www.agfabric.com/collections/garden-netting/products/inbbz1

There seem to be a good number of posts online about putting the netting on trees. The keys seem to be getting the right netting (holes less than 1/4 inch), and securing it well at the base of the tree (since the cicadas crawl up the tree. You need to block their route up).

https://www.industrialnetting.com/cicada-netting.html

OP. Thank you for the advice. I felt that $600 seemed totally excessive. Glad to have that confirmed. The tree was not inexpensive (and was replaced once when the first one failed in that space). So I'd like to protect the investment if it seems like it will be damaged. It's about 6 feet high, so not a sapling. I figured there might be someone out there on this board who has done this themselves and found an inexpensive method.

Do it yourself!! You are most definitely being scammed.

I lost two saplings to the last cicada brood in 2004. The cicadas attach themselves to the trunk and branches, lay their eggs in their and leave. These little trenches expose the tender trunk and that's what kills the trees/saplings.
I had dozens of cicadas on each tree (they like some better than others).

Some areas, like mine in Arlington, got inundated with these little beasts.

Seriously you don’t need to net anything unless you have an orchard full of cuttings or something.

You don’t need to do ANYTHING about the cicadas! They will just come and go. I guess you might have to sweep them.

We bought our tree from this nursery and they gave us good information about the cicadas.

https://sunnurseries.com/cicadas-are-not-locust/

If you do netting you can do it yourself for much less than $600.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do you have to do anything? What damage are you concerned about? You are definitely being scammed.

Small trees can be damaged by the cicadas. They burrow into the bark. Large trees can recover from the damage, but the smaller, younger ones don’t always. The netting keeps them off of it. That said op, $600 sounds excessive. I would just buy some netting and do it yourself.

And by small trees, we really mean very young, thin, saplings. Not the "usual" small tree. So 99.99% of trees in this area do not need netting.

LOL. So OP's gardener wants to charge 600 on a sapling? OP, where are you? Give us more details.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do you have to do anything? What damage are you concerned about? You are definitely being scammed.

Small trees can be damaged by the cicadas. They burrow into the bark. Large trees can recover from the damage, but the smaller, younger ones don’t always. The netting keeps them off of it. That said op, $600 sounds excessive. I would just buy some netting and do it yourself.

And by small trees, we really mean very young, thin, saplings. Not the "usual" small tree. So 99.99% of trees in this area do not need netting.

Anonymous wrote:Why do you have to do anything? What damage are you concerned about? You are definitely being scammed.

Small trees can be damaged by the cicadas. They burrow into the bark. Large trees can recover from the damage, but the smaller, younger ones don’t always. The netting keeps them off of it. That said op, $600 sounds excessive. I would just buy some netting and do it yourself.

It’s cheaper to buy a new sapling *if* your tree is damaged beyond self repair.

Omg. People. You do not need to net your trees. They will be fine.

Also, OP, I can only imagine the stupid stuff you pay for!

Why do you have to do anything? What damage are you concerned about? You are definitely being scammed.

NO. You’re being scammed.

How wide is the trunk? A year old sapling will probably not need netting.

Buy the agricultural mesh yourself (perhaps online), if you’re really nervous. The mesh needs holes that are a quarter inch or less. That’s all. It doesn’t cost $600!

Why do it at all?

I have a question about preventing cicada damage. Gardener wants $600 to net a small tree that was planted a year ago. Can I do it for less?