Dry, sunny lawns are the chinch bugs' ideal home, and drought stress will make it harder for your turf to resist them. The ideal watering schedule depends on your climate and grass species, but start with 1 inch (2.5 cm) a week divided among one to three sessions. A healthy lawn receiving enough moisture should bounce back after you step on it.  Too much water can backfire and make the problem worse, especially with hair chinch bug infestations (found mostly in the northern US and Canada). If you think your lawn is too wet, delay watering until the grass edges just begin to curl.  Moist conditions also encourage naturally occurring Beauveria fungus, a parasite that kills chinch bugs. Chinch bugs are not partial to shaded areas. Put up a shade cloth, or plant trees and bushes to reduce the amount of direct sunlight your lawn gets each day. If your lawn is a light-loving variety, consider shading just the most vulnerable areas: the green grass at the border of expanding yellow patches. St. Augustine grass, the southern chinch bug's favorite food, has excellent shade tolerance. It should thrive under a 30% shade cloth. In general, grass is at its healthiest when allowed to grow to a height of 3–4 inches (7.5–10 cm). This is especially true during a chinch bug infestation, since tall grass will keep the ground dark and moist — two qualities this pest dislikes. If your lawn is in particularly bad shape, you could skip mowing entirely until it recovers. To reduce stress on your grass, use a sharp lawn mower blade and remove no more than ⅓ of the grass blade each mowing. Thatch is the spongy, brown layer of organic material that forms between grass blades and soil. Chinch bugs live in thatch and hibernate in it during cold winters. Aerate your yard once or twice a year to keep thatch levels to ½" (1.25 cm) thick or less. If the thatch is more than an inch thick (2.5 cm), cut through it with a vertical mower or dethatching rake. This is especially important in fall, to reduce areas where chinch bugs can overwinter. Chinch bugs and other sap-drinking insects thrive on plants with high levels of nitrogen. Switch to an organic slow-release fertilizer, or a fertilizer with only 5 or 10% nitrogen (N). You can probably add significantly less fertilizer than the label recommends without causing harm. Try this, and increase the amount again if the grass turns light green. In cold climates, chinch bugs overwinter underneath leaf litter or debris. Some of them will likely survive under the thatch even on a clear lawn, but raking up leaves is an easy way to make it harder for them. . If the bugs are grey-brown or blackish-brown and tiny (about ⅛" or 4 mm long), you probably have "false chinch bugs." These only swarm turf in the summer, after the weeds they prefer to feed on have died. To keep their numbers down, keep your lawn and surrounding areas clear of weeds in spring, especially London rocket, other mustard plants, Russian thistle, and sagebrush. False chinch bugs are most common west of the Mississippi in dry regions, but can be found throughout the United States, southern Canada, Mexico, and the West Indies. . The ideal soil pH for most turf is between 6.5 and 7.0. Test your soil with a pH kit from a garden store, and get it within this range by adding lime (to raise pH) or sulfur (to lower it). Keeping pH within this range will keep your lawn healthy and able to absorb nutrients, helping it survive pest damage. For best results, send a soil sample to a soil testing laboratory to find out the exact nutrients your soil is missing.
استخدم السقاية العميقة غير المتكررة. وفر الظل. أبقِ العشب طويلًا. أزل الغماء (القش) عن العشب. تجنب الإفراط في تسميد العشب. أبعد الركام في الشتاء. كافح الأعشاب الضارة في الربيع. ضبط معامل قلوية العشب.