Watch Where Youre Mowing
You must mow in a straight line unless you intentionally try a wavy pattern begin by mowing in a straight line parallel to a sidewalk or driveway. Instead of looking at the ground directly in front of the mower to keep mowing straight, gaze at least 10 feet ahead. Lift the mower deck as you turn at the end of a row, then mow in the opposite direction adjacent to your last pass. Mow the lawn a second time at 90 degrees to your first mowing to obtain that fancy checkerboard pattern. Mow a strip around the perimeter of the lawn to finish.
Equipment Needed To Create Lawn Stripes
You can stripe a lawn with your regular mower. But for a big-league look, get or make a striping kit.
Heres all you need:
- Lawn mower push, riding, reel or rotary
- Lawn striping kit or lawn roller rent, buy or DIY
- Sand or water to fill the roller.
Striping kits or lawn rollers attach to your mower behind the cutting blades, flattening the grass after its cut. Each pass of the mower and roller bends the grass in the opposite direction from the grass in the pass next to it.
Striping is visible because sunlight hits the grass blades at different angles, says Campbell. With each pass of the mower, youre bending the grass blades toward or away from the light source.
Looking to stripe on the cheap? DIY a striping kit with stuff you have in your garage. Try a 2×4, weighted piece of pipe, even an old rubber mat anything that can flatten grass and be safely attached behind your mower is a potential striping kit. Just be careful on the turns so you dont run over any DIY attachments.
What If You Dont Have A Lawn Mower
It is actually possible to create stripes on your lawn even if you dont have a lawnmower.
This is due to the fact that its not the actual cutting of your grass that causes the stripes, it is the process of making the grass face in opposite directions when you go up one direction and down the other direction. Here is how I would make stripes on my lawn if I didnt have a lawnmower.
You just need some very basic equipment for this simple process such as:
- An upside-down table
- A flat piece of wood
All you have to do is drag whichever flat-sided piece of equipment you choose to use back and forth over your lawn to create the stripe design as its all about making the grass blades lay down in opposite directions and that makes it look like stripes.
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Toro Lawn Striping System What Is In The Box
The first thing youre going to notice in the box is this little label right here that tells you exactly how to put it on and make sure that its at the correct angle. So, well save that for a second here. The first thing I need to do here is to remove this little plug, and I need to put some sand in here for some weight.
So, it says anywhere between 16 and 20 pounds of sand, and I didnt measure the weight precisely, but Im just going to fill this thing up as much as possible. Weight is going to help to bend those grass plates and get a better-defined stripe.
So, I got that thing filled up. Now Im just going to tighten this again. Make sure that it goes down past this little ridge thats cut out because you dont want it hitting on the roller and that this thing can go around like that. And by the way, I got two because my neighbor bought one of these and used it, so I checked him to see how much weight was in his, and it looks like we got about the same.
All right. The so first thing is, this goes around the handlebar, should have these little teeth. I got these in the way here, but you want it about a third of the way up the actual handlebar here. So, Im going to try it about there.
Lawn Striping Requires A Simple Add
To apply the weight necessary to bend grass and achieve the alternating light-dark effect, youll need a lawn rollera heavy, cylindrical-shaped metal or plastic garden tool. The most convenient lawn rollers attach to the rear of your lawn mower, namely tow-behind rollers and lawn striping kits including a lawn roller and mounting hardware . Be sure to get a roller or a striping kit labeled as compatible with your mower size. In addition, the drum of the roller may need to be filled with water or sand before attachment, depending on the model.
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How Do I Get Stripes
Riding or walking rotary mowers can be fitted with striping kits. You can buy a striping kit online or find instructions on how to build one yourself. A striping kit is attached to the rear of the mower or right behind the mowing deck. It can range from a weighted back roller assembly to a firm rubber flap or brushes to lay the grass down. Homemade attachments made of PVC or lumber can also do a decent job of striping a lawn. If you are unable to do it yourself, many lawn care companies are now equipped with striping mowers.
You may have trouble striping a lawn comprised of certain low growing warm season grasses, like Bermuda grass. The low growth habit and coarse leaf blade will not allow it to lay over.
If You Want To Invest In Equipment What Are The Options
So if the above method for striping your lawn without a roller doesnt create stripes as perfect as you want, there are some options for equipment that you can choose from to achieve the stripes you dream of.
Let us take a quick look at what the options are:
- Use a mower with a roller some lawnmowers actually have a roller at the rear end of it and when you have a mower like this you can easily achieve stripes on your lawn as long as you mow to the correct height, have a suitable grass variety, and mow in the correct patterns.
- Use a lawn roller a lawn roller is a useful tool to have in your collection as it can be used for multiple purposes such as flattening molehills, packing down seed or sod, or fixing a bumpy lawn. When you use a roller for lawn striping its like ironing your grass blades to slightly lay down in the correct direction to achieve the stripe effect.
- Lawn striping kit there are many different types of lawn striping kits available but they all follow along the same lines. A kit will be an attachment you can attach to the rear of your mower, they may be a brush or roller type. The goal of these kits is to bend the grass blades in the correct direction as you go back and forwards over your lawn in a stripe pattern.
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Make Your Stripes More Intense
Your mowing will generate a basic pattern, but it might not pique the interest of your neighbors. The specialists next step is to make their patterns more prominent. The key is to bend the grass blades even more, which you may do with a lawn roller. You can rent or buy a roller if you dont already have one. Return to your mowing stripes and roll the grass the same way as you mowed. The difference will be significant, so brace yourself for some well-deserved kudos.
You Can Do It Yourself
Admit it. You want them. Those beautiful stripes on your lawn that’ll make your grass look like ballpark grass. Clean and professional. Like the fields you see in college and professional sports stadiums . You’re in luck, because it’s really not too hard to make stripes in your lawn if you have cool-season grass. Here’s how.
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Without A Striping Kit How Can You Stripe A Lawn
There is no particular method or equipment required: its simply laying the grass down in certain ways so that the light strikes it differently, giving you a darker and lighter impact this way. So you want to mow along the light stripes, and thats when well touch. I tell our employees to follow the light since it indicates which direction they should go.
We aim to maintain our blades up to three and a half to four inches tall since it gives you a little more bend and a more serious effect. You see them more on baseball grounds because theyre higher up.
Floor Squeegee Or Two By Four
Other items you can use besides a roller would be a floor squeegee, or a two straight two by four. Youll probably want to affix the two by four to a handle or another stud in the shape of a T. Then youll do the same thing as the push broom. Drag the squeegee or two by four across your mowed lawn east to west from one end to the other, move down one length of the squeegee or stud and proceed in the opposite direction.
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How To Stripe A Lawn Like A Pro The Secrets To Success
How & Why Stripes Appear
There are several factors that go into making stripes in your lawn. But first, its important to know why and how stripes appear in the first place.
The white and dark stripes you see above are a direct result of which way the sun is reflecting off of the blades. If you were at the top of the hill looking down, the lighter stripes would appear dark, and the dark would appear lighter.
The stripes you see in any lawn are a direct result of the sunlight reflecting off of the direction of the blades of the grass.
Even when the sun is behind the clouds, there are enough rays of light getting through to reflect off of grass. But the sunnier it is, the more the stripes will come out.
So why are one set of stripes dark and the other lighter? Its all about which way the mower passes over them. And, which direction it bends the blades of grass to reflect the sun.
Light and Dark Stripes In A Lawn
When you look at a lawns striping, the lines coming toward you will always appear darker, and the lines going away from you will appear light. This is because as the mowers blades cut the grass, it pushes or bends the blades in a forward direction.
A push or riding mower will stripe on its own, but some serious lawn-striping folks use add-on rollers for the back of their mower that bends the grass over as they mow to create even more of a deep striping effect. No worries though, you can still make some great stripes without the expense!
How You Mow Matters
Mow Outside Edges First
For the best results and to make adding lawn stripes easier, mow the outside edges of your lawn at a right angle first. We recommend mowing TWO side-by-side rows of your yards entire perimeter .
Doing this step will complete the outside edges, then you can focus on making the vertical stripes without any mistakes.
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From The Right Grass To Pro Tips Heres What Lawn Obsessives Need To Stripe Their Yards
Lawn perfectionists everywhere are curious about striping. People are used to seeing professional lawn striping on golf courses and at baseball stadiums, but achieving it at a residence is extra impressive. It can be a fun, satisfying and even meditative hobby that just might make your neighbors jealous.
Here are some things to know before taking the leap into striping your own lawn.
What is lawn striping?
Lawn striping refers to stripes, checkerboards or other patterns applied to a vast stretch of turf with a lawn mower. The stripes are actually a product of sunlight reflecting off the grass blades: Blades bent toward you look darker, while those bent away look lighter. The blades bend in opposite directions as the rear rollers of a mower deck travel back and forth across the lawn.
Striping is something anyone can do with a bit of patience and the right equipment. These five tips will help you stripe like a pro.
1. Know that grass matters
If you want to get serious about striping, you must first consider the lawn itself. If striping is on your mind, chances are your yard is already in top shape: smooth, level and evenly planted.
If youre a lawn novice and have yet to choose a grass, this may work to your advantage. You now have the opportunity to select your grass species with striping in mind. Know, though, that not all grass types are good for striping, and once you have the wrong kind planted, it will take some effort to start over.
2. Choose your mowing tools
Is It Actually Possible To Stripe A Lawn Without A Roller
The short answer to that question it certainly is! There are a couple of cost-efficient ways to stripe a lawn without a roller or striping kit. It may take a few mowings, but you can stripe your lawn with your own mower, a wide-headed brush, or a groomer attachment on your mower.
There are a few steps you will have to follow to get the sharp lines and eye-catching stripes in your lawn, so keep reading as we go over how to stripe your lawn without a roller.
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Where To Buy Lawn Striping System
The next option you have is to get what is usually called a striping kit of some kind. I think the best lawn striping kit is the Toro Lawn Striping System , this thing that attaches to the back of your mower.
I got this roller, this little comb to comb up the grass and then roll it back down when this roller goes over it. You put sand in here, and then when its rolling along, youre going to be bending down the grass again and getting your stripes.
The same company makes that one for the Toro right there makes them for pretty much any other push mower you can use. I happen to have gotten one of those, and Im going to attach it to my Honda mower today and show you what kind of work we can do with it.
If You Cut The Grass Too Short The Lawn Striping Loses Its Intensity
The grass bends more easily under the weight of the roller as it grows taller. As a result, the blade surface reflects more sunlight, resulting in a more prominent grass striping appearance. Lawn stripes are best visible when the grass height is between 2.5 and 4 inches, so dont trim it much shorter than thatshort grass doesnt bend as much and wont reflect light well enough to produce sharp stripes.
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Bonus: For A Checkerboard Pattern
- Using the directions above, mow your lawn into basic stripes.
- Once you complete the stripes, mow new stripes over the first stripes, but at a 90-degree angle.
Thereâs even more you can do with your grass if you have the inclination. Lawn stripe patterns are limited only by your imagination, the size and shape of your lawn and your lawn mower. Consider waves, circles, even an argyle-like pattern. For inspiration , there are and videos online for the aspiring sports turf groundskeeper to check out.
Regular Mowers Wont Cut It
You donât have to go out and buy an expensive new lawn mower, but you do need to know what youâre up against. Major League Baseball field crews dont use typical household mowers. MLB literally wrote the book on lawn striping, and according to the official manual, rotary push lawnmowers only work on residential lawns. At the pro baseball field, itâs most likely a reel mower. âReel mowers are more specialized and are used on higher maintenance facilities like golf courses and athletic fields. These mowers require additional training to operate. Reel mowers are used to provide better quality cuts and allows very low cutting heights,â the manual says.
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Lawn Striping Shouldnt Be Repeated In The Same Pattern Every Mowing Session
Mow as often as is needed to maintain that 2.5- to 4-inch grass height, which could be anywhere from every one to two weeks during summer to every two to five weeks from fall through winter. However, you dont want to re-stripe your lawn in the same pattern and direction more than every two weeksdoing so can result in grass that permanently lies flat. For best results, alternate the pattern after every two-week period. For example, if you mowed north-south stripes last mowing session, mow east-west or diagonally this time.
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.
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