The various cultural controls are listed more or less in order of importance and convenience (most important and convenient first). Special attention to watering the more drought stressed areas of a lawn is a priority if the lawn has been damaged by chinch in previous years, and until other cultural measures which reduce water demands (e.g., higher mowing, lower fertilizer rates) are implemented. The suggested mowing, fertilization and clean-up practices can be conducted as part of normal lawn maintenance procedures and do not involve extra work or expense. Dethatching and aeration operations are not routine operations, although some lawncare companies do conduct aeration as a regular spring practice.

As discussed in Section IV (Factors Affecting Chinch Populations and Damage ), water stress is the single most significant factor causing lawns to be susceptible to chinch bug damage. There's lots you can do to reduce water stress by reducing demand for water (which is a much more sustainable approach than using our valuable water resources for watering a lawn) including

• Mowing high and retaining clippings (see Mowing on this page)
• Reducing use of nitrogen fertilizer (se Nitrogen Fertilization on this page
• All of the options listed under Control by Redesign

• relieves potential water stress on the grass, making it more resistant to chinch bug;
• creates an environment that is less than optimal for chinch bug and that is conducive to control by natural enemies.

If nothing else is done after an attack by chinch bug in a previous year, instituting a 'drought watch' and ensuring that the lawn is properly watered is the most important step that can be taken to guard against a repeat attack. Below, some of the main factors to consider are outlined.

Grass leaves are very efficient at intercepting rain and directing it towards the base of the plants and into the soil.

• the botanical composition of the turf (discussed in Sections III (Monitoring) and VI: Redesign);
• depth and type of soil (discussed in Sections IV Factors.. and VI: Redesign);
• mowing and fertilization (discussed below under Mowing and Nitrogen Fertilization);
• weather conditions for the year.

• the lawn suffered from chinch bug damage in previous years;
• the lawn was recently installed in a sunny area and no particular attention was given to the depth of soil and soil quality when it was installed.

1. The weather patterns: if there is no rain or only a light rain for a week in May to mid-June, or for only 4 or 5 days during mid-summer, the lawn may need watering (depending on soil depth, organic matter and texture).
2. The grass: water stress is indicated by "a bluish-gray color of the grass or footprints that remain in the lawn for an extended period."^[L17]
3. The soil: "Poking a long screwdriver or rod into the soil will reveal the depth of water penetration. Moist soil can be easily penetrated and the probe will stop when it reaches dry soil."^[L18]

Dormant Lawns

During extended dry periods, a lawn may turn brown and go dormant. A lawn can survive from 4 — 6 weeks in a dormant state during summer dry periods. Once the rains return the lawn will green up in 7—10 days. If the lawn is dormant:

• Check regularly for insect pests
• Keep traffic off
• Stop mowing
• Do not fertilize

If the homeowner cannot water, or elects not to water a dormant lawn, a light watering or rainfall of 0.5 inch every two weeks will help minimize damage to the lawn during the dormancy period. This watering practice will supply enough moisture to keep crowns, rhizomes and roots hydrated and alive. This volume of water will not regreen a dormant lawn, however, it will help to insure good recovery once rainfall occurs later in the summer. Do not fertilize the lawn, or try to control weeds, insects or diseases during drought. Stay off the lawn as much as possible. Just keeping the lawn alive is the most important thing to do during drought. (DJ)

• By maintaining a high clipping height, the loss of water from the soil surface is greatly reduced, grass will be less water stressed and the need for watering will decrease.



"Turns out close mowing stresses the grass so much, diseases are just waiting for the fumes to die down before moving in." Carole Rubin in How to Get Your Lawn & Garden Off Drugs, 2nd Ed. 2003.

• Only small clippings are produced and they come from the tips of the grass blades which have the least lignin and are high in water. These clippings fall quickly to the soil surface and decompose rapidly, feeding soil organisms and turning over the nutrients (nitrogen, potassium etc.) to the plants; and unlike the case when the grass is mowed very short, the clippings do NOT contribute to excess thatch and habitat for chinch.


• Recycling clippings returns tremendous quantities of nutrients to the soil and feeds soil organisms.


• Mowing high is much less stressful on grasses than mowing short, and reduces susceptibility to pests.^[V1]


• Maintaining a high canopy shades out many weeds.

• Mow at 7.5 to 9 cm height (3 to 3.5 inches) height or at the highest setting possible on the lawn mower (often 6 to 7.5 cm or 2.5 to 3 inches), except for the first and last mowings of the season when mowing height should be reduced to 4 to 5 cm (1.5 to 2 inches) to control winter mould problems.^[L16]. To avoid long clippings, reduce the mowing height in several steps from mid-September onward. (To measure the height, just stick a ruler vertically on the ground and check the height of the grass blades from the soil surface).


• Apply the "one-third rule": never mow more than one-third of the grass off at any one time. Alternatively, apply the or the "1 inch" (2.5 cm) rule^[L16]: mow when the grass is 1 inch above mowing height.


• It's better to mow high and frequently than to mow short and sporadically. Usually a one-time-per-week regime will do it, perhaps less frequently in mid-summer, and possibly at 4 day intervals when grass is growing very vigorously in late spring/early summer. If the grass is left for a period and grows very tall, mow it down in steps, or mow it twice to several times to chop up the clippings.


• Recycle clippings by using a mulching mower or throw mower (no bag).
  Tree leaves can also be mulch mowed rather than collected and removed from the lawn.^[L32]

Other Approaches (Mowing shorter and/or less frequently)

Consider Using a Reel (manual) Mower &/or a Scythe

Gas mowers are heavy, noisy and highly air-polluting. ^[L35] Unfortunately, a recent study revealed that cordless electric mowers are not a benign alternative: large amounts of lead are released over the life cycle of a cordless mower. ^[L36] Electric-cord mowers are better for the envronment, ^{[L35, L36]} but are generally heavy and awkward to handle.

"A reel mower is lighter, more maneuverable, and easier to push than non-self propelled power mowers. Since it cuts like scissors, it does not bruise or damage the blades of grass which enables you to maintain a greener, more healthy lawn."

The major significant disadvantage to a reel mower according to Scotts is that it has

" an extremely difficult time with tall willowy weeds such as dandelions or buckthorn. If these weeds are present in your lawn, don't be surprised if you have difficulty mowing them. This is because the mower pushes them over and they are tall enough not to spring back to between the reel and cutter bar. "

Scotts advises that "the only real solution for tall weeds is a good dose of weed and feed or mowing them before they reach their full growth." Obviously, in HRM, we should do the latter (or keep on top of the dandelion weeding).

However, there is an even better option: use a scythe to cut the tall grass or weeds down to a size that the reel mower can manage, then use the reel mower for a clean finish. With some practice, one can produce a nicely manicured lawn using only a scythe. The scythe is also an efficient, gentle and quiet replacement for whipper-snippers for cutting vegetation in awkward corners, around trees, by fencelines etc.

The Scythe: the oldest and most
environmentally friendly grass-cutting tool

Fairlight Vido taking on a gas powered trimmer at the 2nd Annual Maritime Hand Mowing Championships in Truro, Nova Scotia, August 2005.

"The scythe in skilled hands was, until the relatively recent appearance of riding lawnmowers on the scene, the fastest way to cut homeowner-sized lawns... in my native Slovakia until at least 1992 nearly all lawns were cut with scythes."
- Peter Vido in A Special Note on Cutting Lawns or A Letter to City Farmers

People have cut grass with the scythe for approximately 2500 years! Many continue simply because they like to work with their hands and/or doing so makes practical sense. In the relatively affluent countries where environmental concerns have received increased attention, the scythe also makes sense as a restorative tool.

It is therefore difficult for us to understand why, for instance, while manicuring the greenery around their homes, so many eco-conscious citizens are content adding carbon dioxide to the already crying skies.

Perhaps they haven't considered the scythe as an alternative because they never saw an accomplished mower at work. After all, television programs on the scythe in this "land of milk and honey" are even rarer than honest political speeches. And, unfortunately, for at least a generation now, television has been this culture's number-one information source.

The fact is that if the combined units of energy required to manufacture and then to operate a tool are measured against its potential longevity, dependability and output, the efficiency of a good scythe will be difficult to surpass — even "the day after tomorrow".

In any case, millions of hectares of lawns and areas of diverse or steep terrain (small homesteads, orchards, parks, nature trails, roadsides) could effectively be cut in a much more sustainable manner.

Use Nitrogen Fertilizer Modestly

If the usual recipe for intensively managed lawns is being followed (2 to 5 lbs of nitrogen per 1000 sq feet per year or 1 to 2.5 kg nitrogen per 100 sq meters per year) the likelihood is that the nitrogen can be cut back significantly, especially if clippings are being recycled.

These high fertilization rates were developed back when it was thought that clippings should be removed to avoid thatch accumulation, but removal of clippings is no longer a standard recommendation in the lawncare industry. Measurements made in HRM show that 1 to 3 lbs N/1000 sq feet (0.5 to 1.5 kg nitrogen per 100 m²) per year are removed in bag mowing regimes; as well as large quantities of other nutrients (calcium, phosphorous etc.).^{[L6, L6B]} If clippings are retained, a lawn should need only a pound of nitrogen or less per 1000 sq ft (0.5 kg N/100 m²) per year. Lawns may need somewhat more (1 to 3 lbs N/1000 sq ft per year or 0.5 to 1.5 kg nitrogen per 100 m²) for the first several years after they are established if they were established on manufactured topsoils with low organic matter.^[L6]

Believe it or not, more fertilizer goes on to intensively managed lawns than to most fields of potatoes (above) and grain! If clippings are recycled, fertilizer applications can usually be greatly reduced from commonly recommended levels.

• fertilizing modestly reduces the growth of grass and demand for water;
• fertilizing modestly helps to reduce the thatch problem;
• fertilizing modestly, by making the grass less succulent, makes the grass less attractive to chinch bug and to many other pests and diseases.
  
  (See Section IV for more details about effects of nitrogen.)

• Focus on the fall as the key time to apply nitrogen fertilizer. The default application should be 0.5 to 1 lb N per 1000 sq ft (0.25 to 0.5 kg N/100m²) as a 'dormant feed' applied in late October through November.^[L6] 'Dormant' feed means applying nitrogen when growth of the grass blades has largely stopped, but the grass is still photosynthesizing and shunting the nitrogen to the roots. This application strengthens the roots and results in early 'greening up' in the spring.^{[L21, L29]} On long established lawns on which clippings are retained, even that application may not be needed; as a rule of thumb if the grass is dark green in the late fall, it doesn't need it a dormant fertlization.


• Make other applications of nitrogen when the grass looks in need of it indicated by light green coloration. These other times could be the late summer/early fall when grass growth is resuming after the mid-summer slowdown and end of May/early June when growth is gearing up in the spring; 0.5 lbs N per 1000 sq ft (0.25 kg N/100 m²) could be applied at one or both of these times according to appearance of the grass.


• Use low grade, slow release or organic fertilizers. Use a fertilizer with at least 75% of N in a slow release form, OR use a fertilizer with 5 to 10% N (avoid high grade N fertilizers); as available and affordable, use an organic fertilizer with 5 to 10% nitrogen, e.g., products based on feathermeal.


• Balance other nutrients and provide lime as indicated by soil tests. Lawns that have been regularly fertilized with mixed fertilizers or with organic fertilizers often have high levels of phosphorus. Depending on the soil mineralogy, they may have low pH, which reflects a low content of calcium and magnesium, and low potassium. The generally thin, non calareous soils of urban lawns in the Maritimes, where the high rainfall leachs the more soluble nutrients, usually require regular supplements of lime and potassium, but not of phosphorus.

• Sustainable Turf Manual (http://www.nbhta.ca/english/sustainable_turf_manual.html) The Landscape New Brunswick Horticultural Trades Association, Spons. Jack Wetmore and Ken Browne, Auths. (Viewed 16 May 2007). Individual chapters are available online as PDF documents. Chapter 6: Maintaining Turf contains a lot of practical information on water stress and the ins and outs of efficient use of water on lawns.


• Maintaining Lawns on Sandy Soils (PDF Doc) (http://www.agry.purdue.edu/turf/pubs/agry-98-03.pdf) Purdue Turfgrass Science Program, Spons. Z. Reicher and C. Throssell, Auths. (2003, March. Viewed 16 May 2007).


• Irrigation Practices for Homelawns (http://www.agry.purdue.edu/turf/pubs/ay-7.pdf) Purdue Turfgrass Science Program, Spons.; Z. Reicher and C. Throssell, Auths. (1998, March. Viewed 16 May 2007).


• Turf Irrigation Efficiency in the Landscape (www.turfmagazine.com/articles/irrigation.html) Turf Magazine, Spons.; J. C. Fech, Auth. (2003, September 21. Viewed 16 May 2007)
  The subtitle is 'Tips and tactics towards proper watering practices'. The article is written for professional landscapers but is largely non-technical and useful to everyone

• Importance of Proper Mowing (www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/lawnchallenge/lesson4a.html) University of Illinois Extension, Spons, 'Take the Lawn Challenge' Series. (Viewed 16 May 2007).


• MOW DOWN AIR POLLUTION (www.aqmd.gov/tao/lawnmower.html) South Coast Air Quality Management District, Spons. (Viewed 16 May 2007).
  A program for going electric, however note that cordless electric mowers have recently been shown to emit large amounts of lead over their life cycle - so be sure to follow up on the disposal end if you buy one. ^[L36]


• Guide to choosing and using a manual reel mower (http://www.reelmowerguide.com/) (Viewed 16 May 2007).
  Some helpful hints about using reel mowers and information on particular models. (However ignore the "The Myth of the Three Inch Cutting Height" comments - even the turf experts agree that there are major benefits to cutting high, and it's essential for reducing water stress and controlling chinch bug without pesticides.)


• Scytheconnection (www.scytheconnection.com). Peter Vido and others, Auths. (Viewed 16 May 2007).
  This site, by the Vido family of New Brunswick, provides many details about selecting and using scythes, health and environmental aspects of scything, courses and competitions, and applications of the scythe to conservation of biodiversity.

• Sound Fertilizer Practices (www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/lawnchallenge/lesson4b.html) University of Illinois Extension, Spons, 'Take the Lawn Challenge' Series. (Viewed 16 May 2007)


• Fertilizing Established Lawns (http://www.agry.purdue.edu/turf/pubs/ay22.htm) Purdue Turfgrass Science Program, Spons. ; Z. Reicher and C. Throssell, Auths. (Updated 1998. Viewed 16 May 2007)


• Winterizing Turf (www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/crops/facts/wintturf.htm) OMAF (Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food), Spons. (2003. Viewed 16 May 2007)


• Nutrient Management (PDF document) (http://dp.biology.dal.ca/cog/BCgrower.pdf) BC Organic Growers, Spons., D. Patriquin, Auth. (2003. Viewed 16 May 2007). An article about nutrient management using organic fertilizers.

• Turf 101: Thatch
  (www-p.afsv.af.mil/Golf/MaintenanceDocs/TurfandThatch.doc) PURDUE TURFGRASS PROGRAM Turf Tips, TURF TIP 5/14/03. Z Reicher, Auth. (2003, May 14. Viewed 16 May 2007)
  A photograph on this page shows the thatch layer being measured. Note that the thatch layer is the dark brown, peaty layer, NOT the light brown, dead grass on the surface of the soil.


• Turfgrass Cultivation and Thatch Control(www.turf.uiuc.edu/extension/ext-cult.html) University of Illinois at Urbana Turfgrass Program, Spons.; T. Voigt and T Fermanian, Auths. (Viewed 16 May 2007).
  Good discussion of different types of turfgrass cultivation equipment including alternatives to aerators that can be used to mix soil and thatch.


• Thatch-a hidden lawn concern (PDF document) (www.oznet.ksu.edu/library/hort2/MF2131.PDF) Kansas Sate University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, Spons. ; M. Fagerness, Auth. (Horticulture Rept: Turfgrass MF2131) (2001. Viewed 16 May 2007).
  Advice on thatch thickness and frequency of detatching; aerating and dethatching tools.


• Thatch Control in Turf (PDF document) (pubs.caes.uga.edu/caespubs/pubs/PDF/L394.pdf) Cooperative Extension Service/The University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Spons.; G, Landry, Jr. Auth. (Viewed 16 May 2007). General guidelines for reducing thatch; aerating and dethatching equipment