We’ve all walked by beautiful, perfectly-manicured lawns and admired the striping on the grass. It can seem unattainable and reserved for those wealthy elites. However, striping your lawn only takes a few extra steps, all of which you can do on your own.
How to stripe your lawn: To stripe your lawn, you need to first decide on a pattern and a direction you want your grass stripes to the face. Then, slowly mow your lawn by cutting in one direction in a stripe and then cutting in the opposite direction next to the first line. Finally, use a roller to further bend the grass blade for a more dramatic effect.
How does lawn striping work?
Lawn striping is when you create stripes on your lawn. This is done, not by adding anything, but by the direction you mow your lawn.
There are many different designs you can create, including regular lines, a checkerboard pattern, and even a circular motion. How you achieve this by moving your lawnmower in a controlled manner.
The effect you see on your grass is created by how the grass bends. The stripes look like different colors, light green and dark green, but the grass is all the same.
What you need to stripe your lawn
There are two ways to go about striping your lawn. The first involves a lawnmower and a roller.
You can also stripe your lawn with a striping kit. These are available online or at most major home improvement stores.
How to stripe your lawn
Pick a pattern
The first step to striping your lawn is to choose a pattern. The easiest and most straightforward pattern is an alternating stripe design.
You can choose to create this stripe pattern lengthwise across your yard or if you want to get a bit fancier, you can make diagonal stripes.
The next step up in patterns is a checkerboard design. This requires you to make more passes with your lawnmower and is more challenging and takes more time.
Finally, if you have a very large yard, you could try a circular pattern. This is where you gently curve your lawnmower to make wide, arc-like stripes in your grass.
Watch where you mow
The trick to creating a gorgeous striping design is nice, even lines. You can’t do this if you aren’t paying attention to where you are mowing.
When mowing your grass, don’t just look at the lawnmower. Instead, look to a spot about 10 feet ahead of you. This will allow you to mow in a straight line.
Pick up your lawnmower
Again, the goal of lawn striping is to create perfectly straight lines. When you reach the end of your grass, the normal step is to simply turn the lawnmower around and go down the opposite direction.
However, a small but important step is to angle the lawnmower so the blades don’t hit the end of the grass. Lift the deck up as you turn the lawnmower up so that when it comes back down, it is ready to create the next line and there are no fuzzy areas.
Mow in the opposite direction
Even though striped grass looks like you have two different kinds of grass growing, all of it is actually the same. The design comes from the contrast between the two directions you mow in.
Now that you have your first line in your grass, carefully mow in the other direction to create the second line. This will take a bit more effort as you want to follow the line to make it as straight as possible.
Again, concentrate about 10 feet ahead of where you are pushing your lawnmower. Pay attention to the edge of the line as you don’t want the lines to be too narrow.
The first time doing this you won’t have a perfect lawn, so go easy on yourself. Over time, you will learn where the blade hits in relation to your lawnmower and how to walk to create straight edges.
Bend the lawn
Once you have cut your entire lawn in this manner, you should see a faint striping design. This will look nice but you can go one step further if you want a truly remarkable design.
The next step is to use a roller to flatten the blades of grass. They will already be slightly bent but to achieve more of a contrast, you want to flatten them even further.
You might want to rent a grass roller to start if you aren’t sure you want this to be a permanent habit. However, if you are prepared to put the time and effort into striping your grass, then a roller will be a good investment.
Going in the same direction that you mowed your lawn, push the roller across to further flatten the grass. Go slowly and follow the edges you created and at the end, you will see your amazing work.
Things to consider when striping your lawn
Length of grass
A striped lawn gets its effect by bending the grass backward or forward. To achieve maximum results, don’t cut the grass too short.
Shorter grass won’t bend. Instead, keep the grass at a height of at least 2 ½ inches.
Fertilize
While striping works on all types of grass, it looks better when that grass is a vivid green color. To achieve this, make sure you regularly fertilize your grass to it looks healthy.
Grass type
There are many types of grass but striping only works well on some of them. Thick grass, such as Bermuda grass, won’t bend as nicely as thinner grass, such as ryegrass.
You might have a type of grass that is meant for drought conditions, which is great, but you won’t be able to achieve optimal striping effects.
Conclusion
Creating a contrasting look in your grass, which is called striping, can take a bit more effort than regular mowing. This is because you need to use a roller to create a more vivid design. However, the result is a premium lawn that looks amazing.
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