Are Lawn Stripers Difficult To Turn
Lawn stripers shouldnt make your mower more difficult to turn. The problem comes if you try to make sharp turns to create your rows or stripes. Sharp turns can damage your turf.
Making a three-point turn to change directions can greatly reduce wear on your grass, especially if youre using a riding mower:
by Andrea Martins | Mar 13, 2016
If you have ever wondered how to mow stripes in the lawn, this lawn striping how-to feature is for you. Whether you are a weekend mower or a lawn mowing professional, the good news is that lawn striping is surprisingly easier than you think and the creative possibilities are endless!
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What Causes Lines In Grass
If your lawnmowers cutting blades are dull or damaged, there may be rows or streaks of uncut grass in your lawn. Dull blades are the result of normal wear and tear from mowing. A professional lawn mower technician can use a bench grinder tosharpen the blades.
If your grass is dull, you may need to replace the blades with new blades. You can do this by purchasing a new blade from a local lawn equipment dealer.
Proper Lawn Care Sets Up Your Ground Game
Along with the right grass varieties, you must be consistent with care, watering frequently and applying fertilizer and other nutrients as needed. A robust, healthy lawn will show designs much better.
Your lawn grows more quickly when you mow it correctly: By cutting the tips of grass blades, you stimulate growth. Roots become more robust, discouraging weed growth and creating a denser lawn surface. And more grass blades per square inch means more-impressive stripes.
Striping has a logical purpose, according to Moy. Over time, changing the direction allows you to cut more of the individual leaf blades to a uniform height. If you always go in one direction, there will be some leaf blades that dont get cut in that specific direction. In this scenario, those blades of grass continue to lay down and grow in that respective direction.
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Reasons Not To Mow Wet Grass
Learn why mowing a wet lawn isn’t a good idea, plus get tips on what you should do if you absolutely must cut the grass.
So, vary your striping direction often, suggests Mangan, who adds that you also can get good striping results by using brooms, squeegees or even throwing down buckets of water.
A few more tips: Decide on your stripe pattern before you start mowing your lawn. And bigger grass blades create better stripes.
Watch Where You’re Mowing
Unless you’re purposely going for a wavy pattern, you’ve got to make sure to mow in a straight line. Start by mowing parallel to a straight sidewalk or driveway. To keep mowing straight, look at least 10 feet in front of you while you mow, rather than at the ground right in front of the mower. When you come to the end of a row, lift the mower deck as you turn, then mow in the opposite direction next to your previous pass. To get that fancy checkerboard look, mow the lawn a second time at 90 degrees to your first mowing. Finish by mowing a strip around the edges of the lawn. Sweet.
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How Does A Lawn Roller Work
The lawn rollers are heavy cylinders that are attached to an axle and are either towed behind a garden tractor or pulled by hand to flatten out bumpy or irregular yards. When seeding a new lawn, they are often used to pressurize the soil and keep it from drying out.
A lawn roller is a heavy cylinder, usually about the size of a golf ball, that is used to push soil out of the way of lawn mowers and other machinery.
How Do You Get Green Lines In Your Lawn
The blades that are bent towards you look dark and the ones that are bent towards you are lighter. You have to bend the grass blades in different ways to create the stripe effect. If you want the stripes to appear, you need to mow your lawn in a certain direction. You can also use the same technique to change the color of the blades.
If you are going to be mowing a lot of grass, you may want to use a different color for each blade. For example, if you mowed all of your grass in a light green color, then you can use that color to make your blades appear darker.
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Avoid Using A Front Wheel Drive Mower
Front wheel drive mowers are very popular in the US. The benefit of these is that you can lift the front wheels up and make a turn without releasing the power which ultimately saves you time.
As a concept, front wheel drive mowers are a great idea because they allow you turn quickly.
They are typically quick and agile.
The problem is that torque steering will likely leave you with wonky stripes because its challenging to control. Whenever you hit a bump, the drive wheels come off the ground and once they return back down, the mower can skip off path.
If youre looking for an easier time getting straight lines, stay away from front wheel drive mowers.
Id recommend using a front wheel drive or an an all-wheel drive mower.
Some mowers will even come with a personal pace handle that adjusts to your desired walking speed. These are great for gaining greater control and staying on the right path.
Make Sure Your Lawn Is Healthy
âTo create a beautifully striped lawn you basically need two things,â says Andy. âThey are a healthy lawn and a lawnmower with a rear roller.
A healthy lawn requires proper cutting, watering, fertilising and aerating on a regular basis, with an understanding of the right time to do each of these things.â
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What Is The Point Of Striping Your Lawn
One potential reason forstriping your lawn may be for aesthetic reasons. For instance, if you have a large lawn,striping it with different patterns can add interest and make it look more attractive. Inaddition,striping your lawn can also create the illusion of a more spacious lawn.
In other words, the stripes can make your lawn appear to be larger than it actually is.
Another potential reason forstriping your lawn may be for functional reasons. For instance, if you have a lot of foot traffic on your lawn,striping it can help to reduce wear and tear. In addition, if you have a lawn that receives a lot of sunlight,striping it can help to prevent the grass from getting too warm.
How To Get Stripes In Your Lawn
To get stripes in your lawn, youll need to mow your lawn in different directions with a lawn mower that has a roller. As the lawn is mown, the roller angles the grass blades in opposite directions creating the 2 different lighting effects when you look at the lawn. The lighter stripe is always the direction pointing away from you and the darker stripe pointing towards you.
But before you can start mowing, you must ensure that your lawn is in good, healthy condition, at the right length, and that you have the necessary tools. Well go into more detail about preparation, tools, and the correct method below.
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How To Make A Checkerboard Striping Pattern
Feeling creative? Once you know how to stripe your lawn with straight lines, try different mowing patterns, such as a checkerboard pattern.
- For checkerboard striping or cross pattern striping, first follow the directions to make a complete set of straight lawn stripes, as shown in Step 3.
- Once your straight rows are finished, lift the mower deck, and turn to mow a second set of stripes at right angles to the first.
- Finish by mowing a strip around the perimeter of the yard to help hide any turn marks.
Do I Need A Special Mower To Make Stripes With
Im afraid that the standard rotary mowers that are so cost-effective and freely available are just no good for lawn striping.
What you need is a mower with a roller on the back of it. The width of the roller will be the width of your stripes.
If your mower doesnt have a built-in roller, you can buy a lawn striping kit. Last time I looked there were several available on e-bay
Your mower must also have a grass box on it to collect clippings.
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How Do You Create Stripes
You now know what products you need to create lawn stripes, and the process for making it happen, but what about the actual result? How are the defining stripes formed?
When you attach a roller to the back of your lawnmower, youre allowing the lawn to be pushed in a different direction to the grass on either side of that strip. Turfgrass species have a darker and lighter side, so the stripes are all in the lighting. With the grass on an angle, it lets off a darker colour than if you had angled it the opposite way.
Finding The Line Based On Your Bowls
To help find the line you need to first have a starting point from which you can adjust.
The best way to do this is to use your knowledge of your own bowls. The bias never changes on the bowls, so you can be fairly confident on how much your bowls will bend on an average green .
For example, I know my Aero GrooVes need about 1 1/2 mat lengths from the centre of the rink on a forehand, and a mats width from centre on my backhand. This is on an outdoor green that hasnt been open to extreme weather i.e. heavy rain or hot sun.
I know from the moment I stand on the mat where these points are. Of course the line is often wrong first up! But its there or there abouts which is good enough for a trial end.
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Add Lines To The Grass For A Stunning Lawn
Making lawn stripes isnt hard. You just need to cut grass at a tall height in alternating directions for each stripe.
Get the best results by cutting the edges or perimeter first, especially if you have an irregular lawn.
Now that you know how to stripe a lawn, go ahead and cut some stripes. Practice makes lawn stripes perfect!
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How To Mow A Straight Striped Lawn
Before cutting your grass, remove any forgotten objects such as toys or garden tools lying on your lawn.
- Make a stripe pattern by turning around and cutting a straight line in an opposite direction from an adjacent line.
- For the straightest lawn striping, find a straight driveway or path to follow. Mow the first stripe parallel to it. When you come to the end of that stripe, make a tight turn with your mower, or raise the mower deck. Mow the next row in the opposite direction.
- If your turn marks are noticeable, finish by mowing a final strip around the edges of the yard to cover them up.
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Easy Ways To Sharpen Your Lawn Mower Blade
A well-maintained lawn mower will keep your lawn looking fresh, and it starts with sharpened blades. We show you how to do this easily and safely.
You must, at least a few times a year, sharpen the blade on the mower, he says. So many people will go years without sharpening that blade. The cleaner the cut, the more healthy the grass is going to be.
How To Add Stripes To Your Lawn
Many gardeners in the UK like to have a lawn with stripes. This is easy to do and requires little to no extra work when cutting the grass.
Adding a stripe to your lawn is relatively simple. All you need is a lawn mower with a rear roller. Typically, rear rollers are found on rotary lawn mowers. Stripes are added to the lawn by flattening and bending the grass as you cut the grass. This in turn, changes the angle at which the light reflects off the grass blade, giving the impression that the grass is a different colour.
The colour that the stripe appears is dependent on how far you bend the blades of grass. The further you bend and flatten the grass, the darker and more intense the colour of the stripe will appear. Because the colour of the stripes is created by reflecting light, the colour may look different depending on where you are standing in the garden.
To achieve a perfectly striped lawn, you first need to consider the direction of the stripes you want? Do you want them horizontally or vertically? Do you want the first stripe to be light or dark? Once you know this you will know where to start mowing the lawn.
When adding new stripes, try and overlap the previous stripe slightly. This will help ensure that you do not miss any patches of grass that may spoil the look of your lawn. Try and use the same overlap distance for each stripe to make sure your stripes are equal in width. Use something obvious as a guide.
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Ready To Start Striping Your Lawn
As you can see, getting those lush stripes on your lawn is no big deal. But you do need to ensure proper care before you can begin dreaming about stripes. If you would like to learn more about lawn care, we recommend checking out our blog and YouTube Channel, where you can find lots of short informative videos on different lawn care subjects. And if youre looking for the right plan to care for your lawn, our 12 month liquid lawn feed plan works with your lawn year round to ensure performance.
A Mowing Masterpiece: How To Add Stripes To Your Lawn
Us Kiwis love many things rugby, cricket, backyard barbecue the usual suspects. But we also love a good lawn. And nothing quite beats a striped piece of grass.
Now you might think that only rugby grounds like FMG Stadium Waikato or Forsyth Barr Stadium can achieve that perfectly striped appeal. After all, they have professional equipment and all the time in the world to make their grass look the picture of perfection.
But what if we told you that you, too, could add stripes to your lawn? It might be time to talk to your local lawn expert about how to make it happen.
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Lawn Striping Tips To Get Stripes Like The Pros
A beautifully striped lawn can have enormous curbside appeal. Here are some tips on how to create professional-looking ballpark stripes:
How To Stripe A Lawn Like A Pro The Simple Secrets For Perfect Stripes
I must admit, I never thought we would be writing a How To Stripe Your Lawn With Your Mower article, but after posting a new cover photo last week of the lawn, we received an abundance of emails wanting to know exactly how we get those stripes to appear.
Some came in the form of equipment questions such as:
- What type of mower do you need to create those stripes in you lawn?
- Do you use or need a special blade?
- Do you have to fertilize heavy to make the green come out like that?
But perhaps our two favorites were folks who wondered if we were painting the lines on, or wanted to know what filter we were using on our cell phone camera to make the lines appear.
After posting this photo to our OWG Facebook page, we received a lot of emails about striping a lawn. The simple fact is, you dont have to have fancy rollers or equipment to stripe your lawn. Its all about direction, lawn height, and sharp blades too!
The real truth is that we dont use any of the above mentioned products to stripe our farms lawn. Nor do we fertilize our grass with anything special. In fact, were proud to say it is actually 100% fertilizer-free, and always will be.
Creating Natural Striping In Your Lawn
As for full disclosure, it is true there are special mower attachments and even mowers available that can stripe your lawn in all types of interesting and incredibly complex ways.
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