Chinch bugs are a common problem for homeowners in Texas. These destructive lawn pests, which thrive in warm environments, can damage your lawn by drawing out plant juices from the grass blades and injecting a toxin using their piercing mouthparts. Fortunately, your grass can recover from chinch bug damage given the proper care. Before you worry about doing that, you'll need to eliminate the infestation first, which you can do with the help of professionals and their reliable chinch bug control treatments. Then, start nursing your lawn back to health through fertilization, aeration, and proper watering.
What are chinch bugs, and what damage can they cause to your grass?
Chinch bugs are pesky lawn insects with tiny, hairy bodies. In maturity, adult chinch bugs are only about five millimeters long and sport black, opaque wings with a distinct triangular, black mark. These pests love hot and sunny environments, which is why they are a common problem for warm-season lawns like St. Augustine and zoysiagrass.
Chinch bugs have piercing mouthparts where all the lawn damage stems from. Chinch bugs use their mouthparts to penetrate the grass blades and suck essential fluids from them. During this, they'll inject a toxin that prevents water uptake, causing the grass blades to dry out and turn brown. The tell-tale sign of an extensive chinch bug infestation is patches of brown or straw-colored grass across your lawn.
You need to eliminate chinch bugs from your lawn before focusing on its recovery.
The first step on the path to your lawn's recovery is to eliminate the problem first, namely chinch bugs. To do this, you'll want to reach out to a professional lawn care company and invest in chinch bug control treatments. Hiring experts is your best course of action because they can diagnose your grass correctly to determine if the damage is indeed a result of chinch bugs. Once they confirm that your lawn is infested with these pests, they'll administer the proper treatment to get rid of them.
Your Grass Can Recover From Chinch Bug Damage With Proper Care
Once the chinch bug infestation has been dealt with, you can now shift your attention to helping your grass recover, which is possible with the proper care. You need to invest in lawn care services to bolster your lawn's health and help it regain its strength after suffering from stress caused by chinch bugs, including the following:
- Lawn Fertilization: Fertilizers provide nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, which are essential nutrients that will help your grass regain its beautiful green color, develop a strong root system, and boost its resistance against stressors. With these nutrients, your lawn can recover from chinch bug damage and look its best again.
- Aeration: Aeration will loosen compacted soil and allow nutrients, water, air, and sunlight to easily reach the roots of your grass. That way, your lawn will have easy access to the resources it needs to recuperate after an infestation and grow robust and vibrant again.
Call us today to sign up for our lawn insect control service!
Our team at CitiTurf offers a professional lawn insect control service to residential properties in Plano, Allen, Frisco, McKinney, TX, and throughout the nearby areas. When you sign up for this service, we'll inspect your lawn to determine the insect damaging it before administering our respective treatments to eliminate the infestation. Whether it's chinch bugs or another pest, like grubs, armyworms, or bermudagrass mites - we have just what you need to tackle them all. We offer our lawn insect control treatments with any of our primary services, including home pest control, fertilization and weed control, tree and shrub fertilization, and mosquito control. Call us today at 972-516-0001 to schedule!