Why Does My Grass Pull Up Easily? 5 Potential Reasons

Your lawn is a green oasis where you can enjoy time to yourself in the outdoors or time with family hanging out in the fresh air.

It draws you out with its lush emerald appearance that is the perfect place for relaxation and embracing the bright shades of summer. 

What can be concerning is when your outside happy place doesn’t look so healthy. 

And few things can be worse than when it seems like your grass is pulling up way too easily in your Northern Virginia lawn. You don’t have to be an expert in lawn care to realize something is wrong with this picture. 

And if you come to the realization that your grass isn’t firmly rooted in the ground, how long can it actually last? Will it eventually die? The whole thing can become quite worrisome. 

Let’s talk about what grass pulls up easily can mean in Northern Virginia and what you can do to solve these problems and save your lawn.

Why Does My Grass Pull Up Easily?

When you find yourself holding clumps of your precious grass in desperation, you might be wondering why this is happening. 

Don’t worry. Not everything is lost. 

Here we’ll talk about the options that could be causing this and how you can address them.

1. Lawn Grubs

One of the more likely scenarios for your grass pulling up easily is because it quite literally is no longer rooted to the ground. 

What’s caused this to happen? A nasty pest could be the culprit. 

In Northern Virginia, lawn grubs are the larvae of insects like Japanese beetles and June bugs. These white, C-shaped pests are hungry. And if they eat enough of your grass roots, there may be none left. In fact, we’ve seen some lawns roll up so easily it’s like rolling up a carpet. 

In addition to grass pulling up easily, you might also notice critter damage in your lawn. This is from moles, raccoons, and other animals digging up your lawn looking for a grub snack. 

The solution? A curative treatment can help address a current problem. But next season, what you want is preventive grub control. You want to make sure the lawn care service provider you hire provides this type of service since grubs are pretty common in Northern Virginia. And it is well worth it because catching grubs when they are small is a lot easier and less expensive than tackling them after they are larger and have caused serious damage to your lawn.

2. Overwatering Can Drown Your Lawn

Many times, you’re focused on underwatering as a key concern with your Northern Virginia lawn. But overwatering can also cause some problems and lead to grass that is pulling up easily.  

When your grass is growing in too much water, it can limit oxygen to your lawn, which can lead to a loss of plant vigor and eventually even death if left unresolved. 

Overwatering can happen if your irrigation system has a leaking head or is running too much during wet weather. 

Signs that you’re looking for that imply an irrigation system problem include standing water that you can see, water pooling up on hardscapes, moss growing on hardscapes, runoff, grass discoloration, or even a spike in your water bill. 

Make sure you get regular irrigation system checkups to ensure your system is running properly and you have no leaks. Even small tweaks to your schedule or repairs to your system can dramatically improve your lawn’s health.

3. Lawn Diseases

When your grass pulls up easily, you could also have a problem with a lawn disease, which can happen in certain conditions in Northern Virginia. 

You might notice a powdery look on your lawn or spots in grass blades, which are some common lawn disease signs. You might even see lawn thinning or discoloration. 

Since there are quite a few lawn diseases that can cause lawn issues in Northern Virginia, identifying them can be challenging. This is especially since the symptoms can be the result of other problems like improper mowing or soil health issues. 

Having a professional review your lawn and check for symptoms so you can get a proper diagnosis is crucial to tackling the problem correctly. All lawn diseases are different, and require different tactics and treatments for control. 

This is one of those types of instances where if you try to DIY the problem, you could cause more harm than good. For instance, you might think discoloration is the result of a lack of water, so you water it thinking it’ll help. Unfortunately, this will make your lawn disease problem worse if you have one. If you suspect disease, always consult a professional.

4. Your Soil Health Could Be Lacking

Some lawn problems in Northern Virginia go deeper – quite literally. And in this case we’re talking about soil, which could cause grass pulling up easily. 

Hiring a lawn care professional who conducts a soil test on your lawn can be a huge help. With a soil test, you can see the exact deficiencies your soil is suffering, which can give you what’s necessary for correction. 

Fixing bad lawn soil can start with proper fertilization. Lawns naturally fall short of all the nutrients necessary for healthy growth, and fertilization helps restore them. 

When it comes to lawns, compaction is also a common occurrence, which happens over time with mower and foot traffic. To fix this, try annual aeration, overseeding, and topdressing to bring more oxygen and organic matter to your clay-based soil.

5. Surface-Feeding Insect Infestations

Sometimes, grass pulling up easily can also be a sign of surface-feeding insects. 

We’re talking about chinch bugs and sod webworms. They feed on the lawn and the damage shows in the grass blades that they attack. While it’s usually patches you find, a major infestation can cause large swaths of damage across your Northern Virginia lawn. 

Proper pest identification and insecticide treatments can solve your insect problem and restore your grass to good health.

Find the Right Company to Tackle Your Grass Pulling Up Easily  Problems in Northern Virginia

When you see grass pulling up easily, you want to get your lawn back to its old self again as fast as possible. The process can take time, and it can certainly be frustrating when your first attempts to tackle your suspected problem don’t work and you keep pulling out chunks of grass. 

Let Turf’s Up help you. You want to find a lawn care service provider who you trust can help you solve your lawn care problems quickly and easily, without taking up all of your time and energy. You certainly don’t want an inexperienced technician to make your problem worse, costing you more money later due to a potential major lawn repair. You want to be confident your lawn is in the best hands. 

We’d love to help reduce your stress, improve your grass, eliminate clumps and chunks coming out, and give you that worry-free lawn you’re longing to spend time enjoying.

Ready to learn why Turf’s Up could be your totally awesome choice for lawn care services in Northern Virginia? We’re stoked to learn more about you and help you have the best lawn on the block. Get started today with a free quote. Together, we can prepare a customized plan that is perfect for you and your yard. 

Image Source: Grub