Q. Last year large areas of my lawn turned brown and died, I was told that I may have had a chinch bug problem. This year the grass is not growing in well and seems to be a bit off color and thin, what can I do to improve it and get it to grow?
A. First I would treat for chinch bugs again with either a general purpose control or a season long product that also controls grubs. I have been seeing chinch bugs already this year and it is not even summer yet, so they are very active at this time. Then I would fertilize with a good slow acting lawn food that contains a large percentage of water insoluble nitrogen or one of the other slow acting nitrogen’s. You do not want one that has a high percentage of an Ammonia form of nitrogen, this for is used up fast, will not last and can aggravate fungus problems.