How to mow lines

Lawn Striping: How to Mow Ballpark Grass Patterns

It’s now easier than ever to make your lawn the envy of the neighborhood with eye-catching grass patterns created by Simplicity^® lawn tractors. Equipped with a Free Floating™ mower deck with full-width rollers, every Simplicity tractor lets you create lawn-striping patterns that complement a beautiful lawn.

What Is Lawn Striping?

Full-width rollers, mounted at the rear of the mower deck, support the weight of the mower and bend the grass blades down in the direction traveled. Light and dark lawn stripes are created by the way sunlight reflects off the grass. Stripes coming toward you will appear darker green; stripes mowed away from you will appear lighter green.

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:

Start by planning the grass pattern on a piece of paper. Adding different shades of green to each ribbon of grass can help you visualize what the lawn striping pattern will look like. As you become more experienced, you can create the patterns as you mow. Keep in mind that what works on paper may not work in the grass — let trial and error be your guide.
Never cut more than 1/3 of the grass blade when mowing. If necessary, mow more often to achieve this condition. Make sure the mower blades are very sharp to assure a clean cut as dull blades tear the grass and stress it. To assure turf health, mow as little as possible when grass is under heat stress.
Mowing patterns and designs can be simple (straight lines or checkerboard grass patterns), or something more complex (diamonds or bullseye lawn stripes). Let your imagination be your guide. For simple designs, you can mark off the first stripe using a piece of string. The key is to mow a straight line and then use it as a guide for the rest of the stripes. With practice, mowing straight lines without string will be easier — just pick a point in the distance and mow toward it. If a line is crooked, or a mistake is made, go back two lines before it and start over.
Making sharp turns when mowing can damage grass, so mow in slow “Y” turns and line the mower up well before starting the next lawn stripe. Once the design is completed, make several “clean up” passes around the grass pattern to create a border and smooth out the turnaround areas. The number of passes will depend on the design and yard.
Mowing each line once is sufficient as too much creates wear and stress to the lawn. With the mower deck disengaged you can go back after mowing and run the full-width rollers over every other stripe to etch in the pattern. This can also be done to freshen up the entire design at any time without mowing, as it’s the rollers that make the mowing patterns.
Find more Lawn Striping How-To Videos >
One tip for enhancing the grass pattern is to spray a light mist of water (for one minute or less) over the turf prior to showing it off to guests. The water droplets will help reflect light on the pattern and add contrast to the light and dark sections.
Always alternate the mowing direction every two weeks or sooner, depending on how often the grass pattern has been mowed and be sure to avoid any “grain” in the grass, which can adversely affect its health. Also, changing the pattern reduces wear from tire marks and improves overall turf quality.

If you want more inspiration, check out these awesome lawn striping photos from Simplicity tractor owners or find more how-to articles on mowing grass patterns now.

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How To Stripe A Lawn Like A Pro

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 Old World Garden Facebook 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 don’t have to have fancy rollers or equipment to stripe your lawn. It’s all about direction, lawn height, and sharp blades too!

The real truth is that we don’t use any of the above mentioned products to stripe our farm’s lawn. Nor do we fertilize our grass with anything special. In fact, we’re 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.

But the simple fact is, you don’t need them. In fact, armed with just a few simple tips and secrets, anyone can create great looking stripes in their lawn. No matter what kind of mower or attachments you might use. And here’s how to do it with ease!

How & Why Stripes Appear

There are several factors that go into making stripes in your lawn. But first, it’s 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? It’s 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 lawn’s 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 mower’s 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!

As you mow back and forth, the blades are then bent in opposite ways as you go in each direction. And depending on which way the sun hits them, you then get the dark or light stripes from the reflection.

How You Mow Matters

So if you are looking to create beautiful stripes in your yard, how should you mow?

Well, for starters, you need to always mow back and forth in the same two directions during a single mowing. And that means no mowing in squares or sections, but long back and forth passes.

When you mow in squares, or section off parcels of your lawn to mow, the multiple directions your mower passes makes striping impossible.

Always mow back and forth, from either right to left, or vice versa. This allows the blades of grass to be bent in alternating patterns, which creates the striping effect. If you mow in squares or circles always in the same direction, no lines will appear at all.

Instead, start on one end or side your lawn, and work all the way across. Always going in the same two directions as you do, back and forth. This allows the mower to bend the blades of grass in only two directions, resulting in stripes.

It Takes A While…

You must understand that the first time you do this, it will show a bit of striping, but not deep stripes. But as long as you mow starting in the same line, and in the same direction each time, the stripes will get deeper and deeper with each mowing.

We have mowed our lawn so many times, we always know where we start and which direction we need to begin. But it can get confusing for sure in the beginning to always make sure you are starting off in the right direction.

Luckily, there is a secret to always knowing you are going the right way. Just always remember that the line you are mowing as you go forward should always be the lighter stripe. Even when you get to the end of a stripe and turn around, it should still be the lighter stripe coming back because the bend will be with you as you look forward.

Mow into the same stripe, in the same direction each time you mow. This will allow the stripes to get darker and darker with each mowing. You should always be mowing in the direction of a light stripe.

And remember, the straighter you keep that mower, the straighter your lines!

Making Patterns

And for those that want to make criss-cross stripes in your lawn, simply mow north-south one time, and east-west the next. Again, always making sure to start in the same line and in the same direction each time you start mowing. If you want an angled lawn, then simple mow left and right, back and forth on an angle.

Beyond the back and forth, there are two other major aspects to getting deeper striping. The first is using a higher mowing height, and the second is the sharpness of your blades.

#1 Lawn Height

The number one key to having deep, beautiful stripes in your lawn also happens to be the number one key to a healthy lawn – mowing your lawn higher!

The higher you mow your lawn, the more length there is for the blades of grass to bend. And the more they bend, the more they reflect. But mowing your yard higher has so many more advantages than just striping.

For a criss-cross pattern, alternate your mowing patters each time you mow. One East-West, one North-South.

For one, it allows the lawn to retain moisture, which keeps it greener. And all of those thick, tall blades also help to keep weed seeds from finding a home in the surface below. For the healthiest lawn, and the best striping effect, mow your lawn at least 3 1/2″ high.

#3 Sharpen Those Blades

Finally, the sharper the blades on your mower, the crisper and cleaner the cut and bend. It’s simple, dull blades tear the grass instead of cutting it clean.

In the process, the tips of the grass actually bruise and turn brown. Instead of bright, healthy green grass, you end up with a brown lawn that looks like it needs watered – when the real issue is simply dull blades.

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Sharpen blades at least every month to keep a clean edge and a sharp cut. And while you are at it, keep the underside of your mowing deck free and clear of clumped grass too.

All of that extra build-up underneath keeps your blades from operating efficiently. And the better they operate, the more they will bend that grass for perfect stripes!

Here is to striping you lawn like a pro – without any special equipment at all! Happy mowing -Jim and Mary.

As always, feel free to email us at [email protected] with comments, questions, or to simply say hello! You can sign up for our free email list in the subscribe now box in the middle of this article. Follow us on Facebook here : OWG Facebook. This article may contain affiliate links.

Who and where should mow the weeds. Home area where does it end? — Newspaper "RVS"

In July, we posted an article about mowing weeds and ragweed, maintaining the surrounding area. It aroused great interest of our readers, subscribers, many did not stay away from the discussion, sent us their comments, asked additional questions.

One of the most common is how the borders of the adjacent territory are calculated, where municipal land already begins. Representatives of the housing and communal services departments of the administration of three rural settlements of the Dinskoy district, from where we received the maximum number of applications from citizens, answered.

Dinskoe settlement

According to the Rules of accomplishment, the adjacent territory is a common area that is adjacent to a building, structure, land plot.

Based on clause 10.2.9.6. the maximum distance of adjacent territories for land plots on which there is no real estate, or land plots on which individual residential buildings are located, is 20 meters.

An exception is when the actual maximum distance is less than 20 meters. Then the maximum distance is taken - to the side of the road.

The hotline in the department of housing and communal services, transport and communications of the administration of the Dinskoye settlement - 8 (86162) 5-19-29 from 08.00 to 17.00, lunch from 12.00 to 13.00 on weekdays.

Novotitarovskoe settlement

The distance by which the border of the adjacent territory to the private sector is calculated is also 20 meters from the fence of the house.

“In general, it is considered to be to the side of the road, but if the road is further or closer, then 20 meters. We always make concessions to citizens with understanding, help to mow in hard-to-reach places, constantly monitor the mowing of weeds, the elimination of weeds on the streets of the settlement, ”said the specialists of the housing and communal services department.

According to them, Kommunalnik LLC is currently working with an increased load, performing a large amount of work on pruning trees, patching, and other work - all the large amount of work has to be done by only 6 specialists.

Realizing that the public utilities are not coping, the specialists of the housing and communal services department of the settlement administration themselves go to the mowing, take the scythe and go out into the street to help.

“And what a shame - there are people, and these are not pensioners and not elderly, disabled people, but young, healthy citizens who do not mow the grass in front of their homes. We would like to appeal to the residents of the Novotitarovka settlement - do not forget to mow the weeds in front of your house in the local area in time, be responsible for the maintenance of common areas, and do not stand aside.

And we also draw the attention of residents to the fact that in the adjacent territory, even near the house itself, it is impossible to pour rubble, store bricks and other building materials without the appropriate permission of the administration. If you decide to build, you need to obtain a temporary permit for storage from the housing and communal services department for the period of construction or other ongoing work, without it you will have to pay a fine, ”the experts summed up.

The telephone number of the housing and communal services department of the administration of the Novotitarovka settlement is 8 (86162) 4-36-52.

Staromyshastovskoye settlement

The border of the adjacent territory is calculated from the front side, from the fence to the roadside, as in other settlements.

“At the same time, we always mow the edge of the road. We have 6 TOSs, they collect applications for mowing the roadside and carry out the mowing according to the schedule.

There are controversial points - corner houses. Such an example of a house - on the street. Steppe. I always go to such sites with my specialists, communicate with residents to find out all the questions. So this time, the administration, together with the public utilities, promptly got involved, helped to mow the grass, all the more so - it was necessary to make serious efforts there, since the site was heavily overgrown with weeds, almost withered trees grow.

We brought a tractor, helped to mow weeds and weeds, and put the house territory in order. But at the same time, I want to draw your attention to the fact that the grandmother, the owner of the site, has many relatives, and no one helped. My mother lives with me on Taman - we go out in turn with our brothers to constantly carry out work and put the mother's plot in order. Indifference corrodes the soul, this should not be, ”explained the head of the Staromyshastovsky settlement, Sergei Dolzhenko.

Wild lawns will be mowed twice a year – Moscow 24, 06/26/2015

Photo: TASS/Mikhail Pochuev

Wild lawns in Moscow will be mowed twice a year. This was reported to m24.ru at the mayor's office. The cut grass in the city will be cleaned within two days. In addition, the city may partially restrict the use of trimmers - manual electric mowers with an open blade. Parterre and ordinary lawns will be mowed with ordinary lawn mowers and mini tractors.

The mayor's office prepared a draft amendment to the rules for lawn care, according to which grass cover from wild plants will be mowed only twice a season.

"The first mowing is in late June or early July, 50% of the total area is mowed. The rest of the grass cover is mowed in late August - early September," the city administration said. Now the lawn is shortened if the grass has grown above 15 centimeters. The frequency of mowing the grass depends on its growth. You can mow up to two times a week. Mowed grass will have to be removed within two days. To date, no deadline has been set for this.

In addition, according to the draft amendments, ordinary and parterre lawns can only be mowed with lawn mowers or mini tractors. "The use of trimmers is prohibited, as this makes it impossible to comply with the established mowing height," the department explained.

Finally, the authorities will formalize the right of Moscow residents to independently choose the type of lawn they want to see in their yard.

Recall that in 2014, residents of the city protested against too frequent mowing of lawns, because of which they dried up. The mayor's office instructed the prefects to take into account the opinion of residents of the districts and adjust the mowing regimes in accordance with their wishes. As Zoya Zotova, head of the Moscow City Duma commission on environmental policy, explained, now a separate decision on the frequency of mowing, the quality of the lawn, and so on will be determined for each yard. You can vote on the Active Citizen website. So far, the majority of votes are for mixed-grass lawns and against mowing in general. If the lawn is poorly maintained, Muscovites will be able to report it to the Our City portal.

Vladislav Potapov, landscape designer, general director of Art of the Earth LLC, explained that ordinary lawns are located in residential areas. parterre - in the city center in front of the main attractions. Wild plants are often found in forest parks and consist of perennial flowers, plants and cereals. There is also a Moorish lawn - a meadow with wild flowers, and a cellular one, which consists of many cells for grass and flowers. But the last two types are practically not represented in Moscow.

According to the interlocutor of m24.ru, the ban on the use of trimmers will help preserve wildlife in the city. "Our city space will preserve nature with its rich species diversity," Potapov said.

According to Alexander Kuksa, technical director of the independent ecological expertise "TestEco", it is not safe to allow only Moscow residents to choose any type of lawn in their yard. In the selection of options for voting, a professional approach is needed, that is, it is necessary to provide for selection only the grass that is suitable for a particular yard.