How to stripe a lawn And Other Mowing Tips
How to stripe a lawn is one of the hottest inquires PPLM gets asked to discuss by homeowners and professionals alike thanks to the signature Picture Perfect style we leave on the lawns we maintain. That being said, there are several other aspects to mowing technique that are just as important to both the health of your lawn and its appearance. Mowing height, blade sharpness, and bagging vs. mulching are important considerations as well. Once these basic mowing tips are understood and mastered, a homeowner will be ready to learn how to stripe a lawn.
Proper Mowing Height
The correct height for mowing a lawn varies depending on the type of grass being tended. Generally, warm season grasses like bermuda and zoysia like to be mowed low, under or within just a couple of inches, while cool season grasses like fescue need more height. Turf type tall fescue, the lawn of choice in RVA, gets its name for its desire to stay tall. By tall, we mean keeping it mowed at four to four and a half inches, depending on its sturdiness and the season.
Keeping your fescue tall helps shade its roots and encourages those roots to grow deeper in turn. It also reduces the amount of invasive weeds likely to develop during the summer. However, frequency is just as important as height. It is very stressful to turf to have more than one third of the grass blades taken off at once during a mow. As a result, you do not want to let it grow more than a couple of inches before cutting it again. For example, if you keep your lawn mowed at four inches, do not let its growth exceed six inches before its next cut; taking those two inches off will be one third of its original six inches.
Sharp Mower Blades
A detriment to an attractive lawn is the light haze that can be seen across the top of the turf as a result of dull mower blades. Mower blades should be sharpened at least three times a year to keep them slicing through the grass rather than tearing it. The tear caused by dull blades results in a jagged tip to the grass similar to the hair style of Bart Simpson. This jagged tip dies and turns a pale brown, creating the effect of a light haze across the top of the otherwise green lawn. A good rule of thumb for remembering when to have your mower blades sharpened is to aim for Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, and by the first cut after having your lawn seeded in the fall.
Mulching Grass Clippings
Many homeowners proudly bag their grass clippings without really understanding when and why it is ever appropriate. The mower comes with the bagger, so why not use it? Unfortunately, the process of bagging and removing grass clippings all spring, summer, and fall results in a significant loss of valuable nutrients that would otherwise be supplied back to the soil by those grass clippings. The only time it is really appropriate to bag your grass clippings is when the lawn has grown in excess, such as after seeding. When this happens, bagging needs to be done in order to prevent large clumps of grass from being left on the lawn and smothering out the turf. Otherwise, mulching up the clippings creates a healthy thatch layer and replenishes some of the nutrients in your lawn’s soil as that thatch decays
How to Stripe a Lawn
Now for the fun part. So long as a homeowner has mastered the mowing tips that keep their lawn healthy, the technique to learn next is how to stripe a lawn to create the effect of alternating light and dark coloring. Believe it or not, this all comes down to mowing direction and the angle of light. Let’s consider the example of mowing a rectangular front lawn with the goal of creating stripes running perpendicular to the road and being viewed facing the house.
When a mower passes over a lawn, it pushes the grass down at an angle to the surface of the yard with the tips of the grass pointing in the same direction in which the mower was moving. You can also increase the the striping affect with a striping kit installed to your mower.
- To create a light stripe, we will mow from the road toward the house.
- To create a dark stripe, we will make a 180 turn and mow back from the house toward the road, staying perfectly against the first stripe with as little overlap as possible.
- Focusing on the point where we plan to end will help keep the mower pass straight.
- To provide room in which to turn around, one or two “perimeter passes” will get the borders of the lawn mowed.
- When moving around obstacles like tree rings, always turn into the uncut portion of the lawn, aiding in the effect that the stripe runs through the obstacle.
- The lighter weight the mower, the harder it is to leave stripes; striping kits are available that add weight to drag over the top of the lawn and help create stripes.
- Following the same stripes for several cuts “burns in” the stripes to make them stronger, but too many passes in the same spot can create ruts and turn marks, so be sure to alternate stripes in different directions to give your lawn a break.
Nothing makes a lawn look prettier than proper mowing, and knowing how to stripe a lawn will help you stand out against your neighbors, especially if the lawn is being fertilizer with our Picture Perfect Program. Be sure to call our office today to get on your way to having an amazing lawn!
Don’t for get to subscribe to our YouTube channel for all kinds of tips and tricks, also with a lot of education information for your lawn care.
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Does your restoration service(roundup yard and reseed) help with the Poa Trivialis problem. Thank you. Like your videos.
Thanks for watching our videos. As far as roundup on a yard that usually does not help with Poa since Poa has already run its course by that time of the season. The best thing that you can do is reseed early and put a pre emergent down near the end of season to help slow it down.
Ron thanks for commenting. Yes round up will help with Poa problems. However you need to make sure you buy clean weed free seed when reseeding. Poa is a difficult weed to control once you get it. Keep watching our videos to stay up to date.
Thank you for responding. You r knowledgeable about poa Trivialis, most r not. About what date would you reseed and date you put pre emergent down? What pre emergent would u recommend? Thank again ron
Good Afternoon,
Where are you located dates change with different zones.
Thanks,
I live in Chesapeake, but come to Midlothian quite a bit to see the grandbabies (twins). Wish I was close enough for your services.
Thanks we wish you lived closer also
The client isnt to far off from us. I would start your reseeding around the end of August first of September depending on the weather. As far as the pre emergent you could put that down after you mow the new grass 3-4 times. Hope this helps.
I love your lawn tips. My wife and I have a terrible lawn. We’ll have to get turf.
That is awesome to hear. Are you following our Youtube Channel? We have new content on there every Tuesday and Thursday.
Hope to see you on there soon.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEi5Jz09iSBUXISlz6bGjRw
Thanks for the comment. Keep up with our blog and watch us on YouTube for new content every Tuesday and Thursda.
I think this would make my yard look so much better. I’ll try this out the next time I mow my yard. That and maybe getting a striping kit installed.
Striping a lawn definitely will give it a more professional appearance. Don’t forget to check out our YouTube Channel for more information.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEi5Jz09iSBUXISlz6bGjRw
I appreciate your point about having sharp enough mower blades. My sister has a really huge lawn and it’s hard to get it done properly. She’ll probably just have to hire someone to maintain and care for her lawn at the level she wants.
Yes, sharp mower blades are crucial for turf health. We recommend for a home owner to at least sharpen their mower blades 3 times a year. At the beginning of the season, around 4th of July, and before the first mow after aeration and seeding.
For more tips subscribe to our YouTube Channel at.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEi5Jz09iSBUXISlz6bGjRw
This is extremely interesting. I created (practically) an Encyclopedia (https://www.gardentoolbox.co.uk/lawn-mowers/) to cover the right lawn mower for each garden use. The one elusive problem that I find for non commercial users is how to buy a lawn mower that creates a beautiful stripe. Now, I know the US and UK maybe slightly different but there simply isn’t one that does the job as per your examples. What I didn’t realise was your technique in the video, it explains a great deal and it might be that we are not using our equipment correctly. I can’t thank you enough for the link to the roller attachment add on too. I shall investigate this further and update my own research accordingly. Very clear you know your stuff when it comes to turf!
That is great to hear. I am glad this information was helpful for you. You are correct you do not need an expensive or a commercial mower to have a great cut and to make stripes in the lawn. It is kind of like training your lawn to look the way you want it to look. Again thanks for the feedback and if you have any other questions please let us know.