Lawn Striping: Methods and Tips

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lawn striping

If you ever visit a golf course, you will notice lawn striping.

The alternate pattern makes the ground look appealing.

That is mainly due to reflection of light because the grass blades are laid in opposite direction.

Hence, one side looks lighter than the other.

Though, this pattern is not limited to sports or golf courses.

You can build one in your own home.

It is actually quite easy to do so.

This article is here to help if you are enticed to give your home garden that clean look. To know more keep reading below.

lawn striping mower

Lawn Striping: What You Will Need?

Before you begin, it is important to have the necessary tools and equipment for your garden.

The main equipment here is of a cylinder mower.

The cylinder mowers will cut grass in a scissors motion.

It contains an internal rolling cylinder which may pass a stationary blade.

Usually these cylinder mowers will also have a roller at the back that is important for making stripes when it bends.

It bends in the desired direction of the grass you need to create the effect.

In case your mower lacks a roller, you can use an attachment which is a striping kit.

The rotary mowers also have a plastic sheet on the back which helps to press down blades of grass.

You can also begin to mow first and then use a roller to achieve the grass blades in the opposite direction.

You will need to spare some time for this.

This also involves preparing the garden.

If your garden isn’t in a healthy condition i.e. dark green in color, you will have to first replenish it to a good condition.

You will also have to remove weeds and moss present in the grass.

Besides that, you may need to fill the patchy areas with overseeding.

Lighter and dark shade grass showing lawn striping method of grass bending.

Steps of Lawn Striping

Step 1: Make a Plan Before Beginning 

Right before you begin mowing your lawn, make a plan using a pen and paper.

Sketch your garden and plan how your stripes will form.

This is not always easy because not everyone has a rectangular shaped garden.

An irregular shaped garden will need more time as you will have to pay attention to the corners as well as the short section.

But most importantly, allows for planning the direction where you will start mowing in.

During the planning add different shades of green to every ribbon of grass.

This will help you visualize what the lawn will eventually look like.

Though, at this stage you should remember that whatever works on paper will not work in grass.

After that, you can begin mowing the grass.

dark and green stripes in garden

Step 2: Mowing the grass properly 

You may think that lawn striping is about different colors of grass considering how distinct the color is.

However, it is all about mowing and how the mower will pass over the grass blades.

The direction it bends the blades to reflect the light of the sun will end up forming the striped pattern.

Hence, the stripes are due to the reflection of the sunlight off the direction of grass blades.

Even if there is not enough sun and plenty of clouds, the less sunlight rays can reflect off grass.

Though, the rays will be naturally more visible in a sunnier day.

So it all depends on how you mow.

You must always mow in a back and forth motion in the same two direction while a single mowing.

So you cannot mow in sections or squares.

This will make multiple directions through which the mower will pass. Thus, there will be no uniform stripes.

It should all be done once in a long back and forth motion.

It should be at the highest height setting.

You begin by mowing the edges of the lawn. Do this at right angles.

By starting from the edge, you are ensuring that the grass is cut till the edge and nothing is left out.

After that, make your way to the rest by lining the mower in the direction you want the stripes to be.

Choose the first two, mow till it reaches the end and then turn up to 180 degrees again reaching the end.

Do not forget to cut high as the longer grass will will be bent easily. In that case, it will produce better stripes.

Step 3: Add some finishing touches

While mowing will do most of the work, you may want to add some finishing touches to give a polished look to your garden.

You can intensify the stripes further by double cutting.

Or you may also do another round of going over the stripes.

However, this time you will need to keep the mower engine off.

In fact, you should only use the roller.

Simple, isn’t it?

Though, many amateurs may still find it hard to make stripes.

For that, you need to consider some tips as well as two major aspects of mowing. Let’s know about them in detail below.

man mowing his garden

Mowing Aspects for Better Stripes

Sharp Blades

Your blades should be sharper.

The sharper they are, the cleaner is the cut and crispier is the bend.

If you have dull blades instead, they will end up tearing the grass rather than cutting it completely clean.

Dull blades will do your overall lawn no favors lest the stripes.

It will make your lawn look dull as the tips will bruise and will also turn brown.

Hence, the grass tips will not look a healthy green color.

Instead you will have a brown lawn that looks unkempt and unclean. Clearly not inviting enough for guests or even people living inside the home.

Your garden will look in need of watering and care when its actually just the dull blades that take away the brighter green color of the grass tips.

Therefore, to avoid all of this hassle, go for a mower with sharp blades.

Height of the Lawn

If you want a healthy lawn or beautiful stripes in your lawn, the process is the same, you will need to mow higher.

As you mow higher, the grass blades are also lengthier enough to bend.

When they will bend more, these will also reflect more.

Thus when you mow the yard higher, the stripes will be more evident ad the sunlight reflects on them.

Besides that, it has other advantages like retaining moisture in the lawn.

That helps to keep the lawn greener for long.

Plus when the blades are tall and thick, they keep the weeds away from reaching the surface.

Therefore, to get the healthiest lawn of all, try mowing it at least 3.5 inch high.

light and dark green square pattern lawn striping

Tips for the Process

Are there any tight corners in your lawn?

There are bound to be.

Not every lawn is perfect, therefore if there are any boxed areas or tight corners, mowing that area can become hard.

So what should you do instead?

When you are met with such areas, use a strimmer.

You may also wonder when is the best time to cut the grass?

Well, the time of the day may not be of importance but the condition of grass is.

You should cut the grass when it is dry in order to get best results.

Maintaining your garden or lawn will be a regular process.

Thus, you will find yourself mowing regularly to keep the stripes in place.

When you are using garden tools and equipment, you should clean them properly and maintain them to get best results.

This will also help prevent problems and delaying the maintenance process.

Therefore, remember to empty the clipping box on a regular basis.

Otherwise it will clog the mower.

When you are done mowing the lawn, and now you have sharp tip, empty the cuttings.

Your lawn should be weed free, otherwise the effort goes in vain. Apply a moss or weed killing treatment to your lawn around April when temperatures start rising.

Moreover, in spring you will end up doing overseeding with new grass.

This helps to build the density of the turf while also filling the bare patches that are left because of the weed removal.

But treat the weeds first and then make up for the patches with seed a week later.

man mowing lawn in straight lane

Things to remember while Lawn Striping

It is crucial to remember that this process takes time.

And if you are an amateur, you may also make mistakes the first time around.

So when its the first time doing it, there will be no deep stripes in fact, just a bit striping.

The stripes will get deeper each time after mowing in the same direction in each line.

It may also be tricky to always remember which you are going to mow.

For that, keep in mind that the the line mowing forward should be the lighter stripe.

Thus, when you turn around and come back, it should still be the lighter stripe.

The bend will remain with you when you look forward.

Finally,

Lawn striping cam be done in various shapes and designs.

But begin from the basics and then expand your designs.

If you don’t wish to do it yourself, reach out to Al Ardh Alkhadra’s experts to mow your lawn.

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