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.

Preparing Your Mower

If you take care of your lawn care by yourself, then the first step to achieving that beautifully striped lawn is preparing your mower. After all, the sharper the blades, the better the presentation of your yard.

Take your lawnmower to a sharpening expert, and make sure the blade area is free of debris. Lawnmower blades that aren’t sharp can rip grass out by its roots, and also leave it with untidy, ragged edges.

If you’re hauling your mower out of storage for the first time in a long time, it also pays to freshen the fuel, replace the oil, check the filters, and test the spark plugs. 

Choosing a Pattern

It’s easy to get envious of your neighbours with their perfectly striped lawns. While you could copy them, why not do one better? Believe it or not, lawns stripes are just the beginning.

You can also try your hand at a chequerboard pattern, waves, or diagonal stripes. Your local lawn care expert might be able to offer some helpful tips, but we’ve included a bit of base information below, too.

Stripes

To achieve the perfect striped effect on your lawn, head to your local hardware shop in search of a lawnmower roller system. These attach behind your mower and bend the grass blades in the direction you are mowing.

Pay attention to the size of your lawnmower, as the roller system has to suit your mower. You can then fill that roller with water or sand based on the type of lawn and soil you have. You’re now ready to produce stripes.

Mow around your lawn’s perimeter and pick a side to start mowing parallel to the grass edge. Once you get to the end of the lawn, lift the mower deck and face it in the opposite direction. Mow parallel to the last strip you mowed, and keep changing direction until the entire lawn has stripes.

The Chequerboard Effect

If you and your neighbours are vying for the title of the best lawn in the street, then stripes won’t cut the mustard. Why not take that battle to the next level with a chequerboard? If you can master lines, then you can certainly master a chequerboard.

Mow your lawns as if you were trying to achieve stripes by themselves. Then, mow perpendicular straight lines through the finished stripes. Lift your mower at the end of each line, and face it in the opposite direction.

Diagonal Stripes

Do regular lawn stripes bore you? Add a bit of attitude to your grounds with diagonal ones. Create your standard striped lawn pattern, then mow diagonal lines through the stripes from beginning to end. Lift the deck of your mower with each turn.

Wavy Stripes

Stripes are cool and all, but do you know what’s even cooler? Wavy stripes. Show the neighbours that you really take pride in your lawns by mowing a wavy stripe pattern. Follow the same practices as you would with achieving straight stripes, but follow a curve. You can then raise the mower deck with each turn.

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, you’re 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.

What is the Best Grass Type for Lawn Stripes?

Even with the best lawnmower and roller in your garden shed, you may not always be able to achieve the perfect patterned patch. That’s because not every grass type is going to be suitable for striping.

Cool-season grasses, like fescue, browntop, or ryegrass (mostly for farms), offer a better finish. Essentially, the thicker the grass and the longer it is, the more distinctive the stripes are.

Lawn Striping for Aesthetics and Lawn Health

If you’re on the fence about whether to try lawn striping for yourself, then it might be helpful to know that it can be both aesthetically pleasing and beneficial for lawn health. When you cut your grass with sharp blades, it’s stimulated to grow. 

Weed growth is discouraged through stronger roots, and a denser lawn surface grows as a result. The more grass you have, the more impressive your stripes.

What’s more, changing the direction of your cut with each mow allows even cutting. If blades are missed in one haircut, then they will be cut in the next mowing session with a change of direction. Could it be time to talk to your local lawn care service provider about how to add stripes to your lawn?