Q. I was told in midsummer that my lawn had take-all patch and that it should not be treated until it was cooler. The problem has continued to spread, and now it looks like I may have lost big parts of my grass. Do you have any suggestions?

A. There is so much misinformation about take-all root rot, and it's troubling to hear stories like yours. TARR is a cool-season disease, striking predominantly in spring. St. Augustine — and, to a lesser degree, Bermuda — are lethargic in growth. Blades are yellowed, with dead runners intermingled with the new green growth of springtime. The patches are generally poorly defined, more like washes of damage across the lawn. The strands of the fungus can be seen on the runners only with a hand lens or magnifying glass.

That is all contrasted with damage done in summer by chinch bugs. These insects were prolific this year, and the affected grass started by looking dry in patches, always in the hottest, sunniest parts of the yard.

Left untreated for even a week, the BB-sized insects quickly kill the afflicted patches completely. I don't know whether you'd still be able to see the chinch bugs if you were to inspect the lawn more closely, but I'd still bet that they were the culprits.

Imidacloprid systemic insecticide controls chinch bugs quickly and efficiently. It's imperative that you treat at first evidence and after confirming that you do see them.

Take-all root rot, by comparison, is treated with a 1-inch layer of sphagnum peat applied over the lawn and watered into the soil surface. The fungus does not thrive in the acidic layer created by the peat.

I do not think you need to apply peat now. I doubt if the insecticide would offer much help this late, either.

Q. What types of shade trees should I consider for the west side of my house? Our house is elevated about 10 feet above the level of the lawn due to a change in terrain. What type of tree would be durable and still provide good shade?

A. The best shade trees for most of Texas include Shumard red oak, chinquapin oak, bur oak, cedar elm, pecan and Chinese pistachio. All those would meet your objectives handsomely.

Had you not mentioned the grade change, and if you told me that the tree would be some distance away from the house, I would also have included live oak, but they are too spreading for your specific needs. Honestly, those would be probably the only trees I would consider for my own landscape given the parameters you listed.

Q. The people who owned our house before us planted a row of pampas grass clumps as a screen. It has, over the past several years, become rather sparse in areas. We would like to take it out. Is there any easy way?

A. You could kill the grass by spraying it with a glyphosate-only herbicide, but you still would have all the leaf blades. You're going to have to remove all of them as well as the roots at some point. If you have very much pampas grass, you might want to hire a landscape contractor with a small front-end loader to dig it all out.

If you're going to do the work yourself, you'll want to start by cutting the blades off as short as you can comfortably cut them. Use a gasoline-powered trimmer or machete to cut them. Wear goggles, gloves and long sleeves and long pants. The leaves are like knives.

Soak the ground thoroughly, then start digging. Their roots are large and heavy, so each clump will take you some time to extricate.
