Current Information
Chinch Bugs, Brown Patch and Drought….Oh, My!!!
It’s Houston, it’s hot, it’s dry (or drenched… rarely is it in between) and your yard that looked so great last month, is showing signs of, well, you’re not sure…but you can tell something isn’t quite right? The most common problems with lawns in our area are chinch bugs, brown patch, or watering issues. Here’s a little review to help you identify what you’ve got going on in your lawn.
Chinch Bugs
These are actual little bugs, a little bigger than fleas, but you can still spot them. Their immature stage is brown with a white ring around his middle. The adult stage is black with white wings on their back. If left untreated, these guys can kill a lawn. They pierce the grass where the blade attaches to the stem. Normally, chinch bugs start appearing in July and August. These little guys like light…if you’ll take a white piece of paper and put it down in your grass, you’ll see them hopping on the paper, again, like fleas. They’ll tend to show up first in stressed, dry areas.
So, the best treatment is actually prevention, keeping your lawn consistently watered. However, if you do get an infestation, you can treat it organically with a granular cedarcide (cedar pellets) or Organocide, made of fish and sesame oil. Or, if you prefer a chemical route, try a granular bifinthrin, which would be applied with a broadcast spreader every eight weeks. Chinch bugs rarely do damage beyond mid-October.
Brown Patch
If you’re seeing circular brown patches in your grass and the blades are thinning, but the runners are still alive, that’s probably Brown Patch. Brown Patch is a fungal disease in the soil that will make your lawn look bad, but not kill it, like Chinch Bugs. Brown Patch doesn’t normally start showing up until cooler evening temperatures arrive, sometime in September through November. Sometimes we see it in April or if we have a really cloudy summer with really wet conditions. For prevention, we recommend the organic route of applying horticultural cornmeal and leaf mold compost to problematic areas in March and again in August. There’s also a chemical treatment of granular PCNB (also known as terrichor), which needs to be applied anytime you see the spots grow larger.
Watering
Consistent watering cannot only prevent Chinch Bug and Brown Patch problems in your lawn, but is absolutely necessary for keeping your lawn healthy all year round. If we get heavy rains, you must stop or readjust your sprinkler timers, you can’t just expect your yard to deal with a downpour and a sprinkler system at the same time. However, setting your sprinkler for what’s considered adequate watering in March doesn’t mean adequate watering in the hot, dry months of June, July and August. It’s important to go dig down into your lawn and see how far down your watering is reaching into the soil. If it’s dry a couple of inches down after a good 15 minute watering, you’ll need to readjust your sprinklers and water enough to reach down to about eight inches into the ground.
Discolored grass and/or blades of grass that appear shriveled are both signs of not enough water. If you walk across your grass and it leaves footprints, not automatically springing back into place, that’s a sign of underwatering.
Still Not Sure? If you’re still unsure what’s going on with your lawn, dig up a generous sample with soil attached. Pick a spot in the transition area where the symptoms are.. Bring it to us to look at, we’ll be happy to try and help you diagnose your problem. You might even want to snap a photo and bring that along, in addition to the sample.
Texas-2 step
For fire ants, we like to do the Texas-2 step. Broadcast over the whole yard with Fertilome Come and Get It. Then use a mound treatment like Results powder or Orange Oil.
Here is more info on the two step. http://fireant.tamu.edu/management/twostep.cfm.
Do you have grass that looks this good?
If not, use Fertilome Weed Free Zone, to kill all the broad leaved weeds that grow in the cool weather.
