Robert Pore's Ag Blog

The old song goes "It's summertime and the livin' is easy," but that usually isn't the case for those tending lawns and gardens, said Texas Cooperative Extension experts.


Summertime is normally a challenging time for taking care of lawns and gardens, said Skip Richter, Extension horticulturist.


"The three main issues people have to deal with are water, insects and disease," he said. "And the situation is worse than normal this year due to drought."
The most common summertime problem with turf grass and plants is watering, he said.
"People tend to water too little and too often," Richter said. "Applying water in small amounts at more frequent intervals results in a greater loss to evaporation because so much of the water stays at the surface. And frequent watering can also promote turfgrass and plant diseases. That' s why it's better to give a lawn a good soaking a little less often."


The average lawn should get one-half inch to 1 inch of water every one to two weeks, depending on temperature, type of soil and amount of sun, he said, with shady areas requiring less frequent watering.


Another common challenge for summertime lawn warriors is take-all root rot, he added. This fungal disease, mainly affecting St. Augustine grass, but also an enemy of zoysia, bermuda and other turfgrass is pervasive and can kill the entire plant.
"Take-all frequently leaves lawns with large, blighted, discolored dead areas," Richter said. "It's very common on lawns throughout the state and is a problem that's repeated every summer."


There are two generally effective methods to control take-all, he said.
"One way is to make the soil surface inhospitable to the fungus by applying a top dressing of peat moss or other acidifying product," he said. "Another way to control it is to treat it with a fungicide."


In addition to water and disease, certain insects can be a major challenge during the summer, especially chinch bugs, said Wizzie Brown, Extension entomologist
"We've seen a much larger number of chinch bugs than is normal this early in the season," Brown said. "Drought-stressed lawns are more susceptible to damage from chinch bugs, and we've got a lot of those in Travis County and throughout the state."
Chinch bugs are small black and white insects with a triangular black mark on each wing, Brown said. They typically feed on St. Augustine grass, but can also feed on bermuda, zoysia, bahia and centipede grasses. Damage from chinch bugs is often confused with "brown patch" and other lawn problems.


"To see if you have chinch bugs, part the grass at the edge of the damaged area and visually inspect for them," she said. "That's the best way to determine if it's a genuine chinch bug problem."


There are various means of managing chinch bugs, Brown said. Here are some tips:

> Aerate the lawn and apply a top dressing of soil or peat to reduce the layer of thatch(dead organic plant material on the surface of the soil.

> Do not over-apply fertilizer.

> Do not over-water or under-water the lawn.

> Only use pesticide when necessary to help preserve the beneficial insects.
If pesticides are needed, Brown recommends using spot treatment if chinch bugs are in limited areas of the lawn. Sweep up any granular product that may land on sidewalks or driveways, and make sure to carefully follow all instructions on the product label.