Having a great lawn is the American dream. You can spend all the time in the world seeding, watering, mowing, and obsessing over your yard (speaking from experience here) and something is still bound to go wrong. So you might suddenly find yourself wondering: why does my grass pull up easily?
Grass pulls up easily when grubs infest your yard or when your grass experiences root rot. One warning sign of grubs is irregularly shaped dead patches of grass, while a warning sign of root rot is yellow blades of grass. You can treat grubs with pesticide and root rot with fungicide.
My Grass Pulls Up Easily: A Few Possible Causes
Goddammit, out of nowhere my grass comes up like carpet. Now what?
In this section, I’m going to go over the two main causes of why your grass might be pulling up easily. Later on, I’ll give some tips and tricks on how to solve your headache!
Gnarly Grubs
Grubs are immature Scarab Beetles. You can recognize them by their white, C-shaped appearance, with soft bodies and legs near their heads. They eat grass roots, killing all the root systems they come across.
This is why your grass pulls up in clumps when you’re raking or pulling weeds. There aren’t any healthy roots to hold your grass in place!
Generally speaking, the eggs hatch roughly two weeks after they are laid. They start devouring your oh-so-precious lawn immediately. Their peak feeding season is early fall, so if you suddenly notice, my grass pulls up easily while raking your autumn leaves, this is a clue that grubs might be the cause.
If grubs are to blame, your grass will have no roots when you pull it up. Other signs of grubs include irregularly-shaped dead patches, excess bird activity, and spongy turf.
But of course, the best way to know you have grubs is to spot one!
Pesky Root Rot
Every type of grass has vulnerabilities to different types of fungal lawn diseases. Root rot is one that is really very common and affects many varieties of lawn grass.
Root rot happens when fungus attacks the roots of your grass. The scary thing about root rot is that it spreads rampantly and can easily take over your whole lawn before there are any obvious signs of it.
One early sign of root rot is yellow blades of grass, although that is a symptom of many other lawn problems as well. If you spot some yellow grass and want to investigate, pull it up.
Unfortunately, if there are brown roots with a hair-like consistency, you likely have root rot on your hands.
If the fungus has advanced, it will show itself as a hair-like structure wrapping around the stem.
How to Fix Grass that Pulls Up Easily
So your grass pulls up easily. You’ve identified whether the problem is caused by grubs or root rot. That’s a good start, but now treatment is necessary.
Ridding Your Lawn of Grubs
Grubs are most susceptible to pesticides when they are young. This means it is best to apply it when they are newly hatched, in late summer and early fall. So act quickly!
Curative products kill existing pests upon contact. Preventative pesticides kill them over time: both the first grubs they come in contact with, and those that hatch later on.
Something to keep in mind is that preventative pesticides contain nitrogen, so you need to keep your lawn irrigated after you apply it so that your grass doesn’t burn.
Keep your eye on your neighbor’s lawns. If their grass starts dying, grubs might be on their way to your lawn too, so be ready.
Reseed dead lawn patches and you should be good to go!
Say Goodbye to Root Rot
A preventative measure you can take to avoid root rot is keeping your soil pH around neutral or a bit acidic. You can apply ammonium sulfate or powdered sulfur mixed with compost. Another solution is sphagnum peat moss.
But if your lawn is already under brutal attack, it’s time to take out the big guns and apply fungicide. You might be thinking, don’t I use pesticides to treat lawn problems? Not when your problem is a fungus!
Mix your fungicide with 4 to 5 gallons of water per every 1,000 square feet of lawn. Thoroughly water your grass right away after you apply it. Clear your lawn of any leaves or debris before application so that your fungicide can reach the soil.
Once your root rot has been treated, reseed as necessary and you can rest easy knowing your lawn is on its way to good health once again.
Phew, That Was a Close One!
When your lawn starts pulling up, it can be easy to panic. The more time you spend with your lawn the better- that way you can catch the early warning signs of grubs and root rot before they become disastrous.
But no matter how big the problem, there is always a bigger solution. Don’t worry. Now that you know what to do, your lawn will recover.
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