I am not sure what is different this year, but my Florida St. Augustine Grass has been under attack by the really annoying Chinch Bugs. I had not heard of a Chinch Bug until I moved to Florida. You can tell when you have Chinch Bugs by two characteristics of your lawn:
- The grass appears yellow and dry even though you are adequately watering it.
- You start to lose grass with various bare spots in your yard.
Chances are you have Chinch Bugs if your lawn has those characteristics, but it takes about 2 minutes to verify this yourself by doing one of the following:
- In the yellow and dry areas of your grass where the Chinch Bugs may be actively eating away at your grass, just push the grass blades down with your hands close to the root and look for a little black blug with a white X on its back
- Or, take a cylindrical container with holes on both end and press one end firmly into the ground while filling the cyclinder up with water. The Chinch bug will probably raise to the top of the water after a few minutes - black bug with a white X.
The Chinch Bug is pretty devastating to your lawn and can cause havoc in the matter of a couple of days. If you detect it, I recommend calling someone to spray your lawn accordingly right away.
Again, obviously the bare spots in your yard are a huge tipoff that something is eating away at your grass. However, if you are watering your lawn adequately but it feels yellow and dry, look for the Chinch Bugs at that time before they cause damage. Some insects might be hard to detect, but the Chinch Bug is embarassingly easy to find in your yard. I can walk into about any yard and find it in a couple of minutes if it exists.
Hate 'em :) Florida was never supposed to be covered with grass and our lawns pay for it. Best of luck to you and your lawn.