There are many insects that ravage our yards during the summer season and into early fall. There are fire ants, mole crickets, army worms and chinch bugs, just to name a few. On the other hand, we have lawn diseases that can be rampant during the summer's humid days. Slime molds, take-all root rot, and fairy rings are ever present across St. Tammany Parish. Brown patch most often occurs in wet cool weather. Sometimes it’s hard to tell which problem you have.
The most common insect causing problems in our lawn is the chinch bug. Although the insects prefer hot, dry, sunny days, finding them or their destruction this time of year (October) is no problem. Lawns suffering from chinch bug infestation show large patches of irregular, yellowish, stunted, wilted grass. The small black and white adults, together with the reddish nymphs (immature forms), may be found at roots near the base of the grass. For positive identification of chinch bugs, consider looking for these clues:
- Part the grass and examine the grass runners near the soil surface. The bugs can be easily seen in heavy infestations.
- Put 2 tablespoons of lemon-scented liquid soap in a gallon of water. Pour the solution on the damaged area of lawn. The insects, if present, will come to the surface.
- The chinch bug, when crushed, gives off a very strong odor
Chinch bugs can be managed with several different lawn insecticides that contain cyfluthrin/imidaclprid or Dylox.
Another lawn problem this time of year is brown patch. The fungus can affect many of our warm-season grasses including centipede, bermuda and St. Augustine. It appears as a brownish to gray irregular circular pattern. With our highly humid nights and recent rains, we’ve seeing a lot of this disease. Problems continue with cool wet weather Brown patch will increase with high nitrogen fertilizing, watering late in the afternoon and in the presence of deep thatch. The disease does not always kill the grass but will cause it to be very thin, allowing weeds to enter the lawn. The best management for this disease is
- Rake out all dead grass.
- Apply fungicides containing thiophanate – methyl or triadimefon. Use the fungicides at the first signs of the disease.
- Do not fertilize your lawn until spring.
Either problem, chinch bug or brown patch, is very common and causes weak lawns. Early detection and accurate response can mean fewer problems in your yard.