Three common garden pests — and a 17-year visitor who isn’t

OK, so you’ve got your vegetable and flower transplants in the ground, their roots are reaching out into surrounding soil, and stems are starting to grow.

Wait before you turn your back on them! A few — just a few — common pests might be lurking.

Transplants are threatened by three kinds of pest damage this time of year: Stems might be chopped off at the soil line, leaves might be chewed, and/or leaves might be shot full of tiny holes. The most likely culprits are, respectively, cutworms, slugs, and flea beetles.

All three pests have cosmopolitan tastes, attacking practically any transplant you set out. Fortunately, they can be kept in check without pesticides.

First though, let’s look at a bug that’s NOT a threat to your vegetable plants: cicadas.

This is the year for the emergence, after 17 years cozied up in the soil, of Brood X cicada. About a dozen Eastern states are or will see cicada swarms, with the nymphs emerging from the ground once it warms up, and then crawling up a tree or some other vertical surface to molt. Leaving their “shells” behind, they proceed to mate.

Some people call these insects “locusts.” They are not locusts, but a kind of grasshopper. No need to fear their sting or bite. They, and their obnoxious grating noise, are just a bother.