You would love to have that striped look across your lawn. It adds that wow factor, and catches the eye of any passerby. If you thought only professionals would have the tools and know how to create this art work on grass, you’re wrong. Anyone can make stripes in their lawn. In this article we are going to talk about everything surrounding striping, so you to can stripe your lawn.
What causes the stripes?
First and foremost, we must discuss what actually makes the “stripe” look. Its simpler than you think, and you will be surprised how easy it is to create. If you want to stripe your lawn, read on!
Its all about blade direction
And by blade direction, I mean the blades of grass. When you see the different shades of green, what you are actually seeing is two different sides of the grass. It all depends on what way it is folded over, and the way light reacts with it.
When the blades are bent away from you, the grass appears “lighter.” As the grass is bent towards you, it will appear to be “darker” These contrasting directions will give you that striped look you are trying to achieve.
What is actually tricking you into seeing stripes is the surface area you are seeing. On the darker side you are looking at just the tips of the grass. There is not much surface area for light to reflect off of, hence why it appears dark.
When the grass is folded away from you, the whole blade is reflecting light, hence why it appears lighter, and brighter.
Pretty neat stuff huh?
Tips on How to Stripe your Lawn
You don’t need many items, or tools to stripe your lawn. A little patience and being meticulous about it is whats going to separate ok results from excellent. And the more times you stripe, the better you are going to get at it.
First things first, you need to purchase a lawn striper. Depending on what you operate for a mower will determine what striper you need to purchase. This striper from toro is designed for a 21″ push mower. It is easy to attach to your mower, and can also work with the bagger attached.
The only extra that does not come with the toro lawn striper is it requires 16-20 pounds of dry sand, we’ll explain how these items work together later.
So for about $125, you are ready to stripe your lawn. Pretty low investment for some impressive results!
Lets Stripe you Lawn!
Now that you have your attached your striper to your mower you are set to go. The nice thing with striping in a traditional row pattern is there are no extra steps than your regular mowing. You will be striping as you are mowing. If you are going for the check board look, or any other kind of pattern that intercrosses, you will have some extra leg work.
First things first, check your deck height.
How does this affect anything you ask?
The longer your grass is cut, the deeper the contrast will be on the stripes. This is because there is more grass to lay over, hence more surface area for light to reflect off of.
Rule of thumb is around 3-3.5″. I know this may seem high to some of you, but it also leads to a healthier lawn in the summer, by reducing water evaporation. But we’ll talk about that in another post.
Your First Stripe
It’s now time to stripe your lawn.
First things first, mow your perimeter. By mowing a perimeter, it will give you a mowed section to turn around on at the ends of your stripes. This includes anywhere from property boundaries, to flower beds, to buildings. Pretty much anywhere you can’t extend out past to complete your stripe.
Where, and how you start your first stripe will set the course for success for the rest of the lawn.
Step back out by the road, and look at your property. This is going to be known as the money shot. When people pass by your property, this is what they are going to see. You want the stripes running perpendicular from the road. What this means if the road is running east to west, you are going to mow north to south. This allows your neighbors to look down your stripes not across them.
Now that we know what direction we are going in, we need a starting point.
Try to find a straight edge around your property you can work with. This will allow straight stripes. Crooked stripes won’t be doing your property any favors. It will just like you had a fews beers BEFORE you started mowing. Save them for after when you can admire your work. This straight edge can be along a fence, driveway, side of house. It’s going to be a reference point. But no matter what, you will be starting on one side of your lawn, and working across. If you don’t have anything to work off of, then pick you’re starting point and look straight across your property. Fix your eyes on an item straight across and walk towards it.
Lets Mow
Now that setup and planning is completed, its time to see some results. Starting at one side of your property, make your first stripe. Take your time and make it as straight as you can. If any obstacles are in your way, simply mow over into the un-mowed grass. We will hide this curve in the next stripe. When you reach the end, simply turn around and mow back along the stripe you just made. If you did have a curved section in the first pass from a tree or something, simply continue with your second stripe straight. This will hide that turn in your first stripe.
Now simply keep on mowing.
You should now realize why that first stripe was so important, it gives you a good starting point to work off of.
When you complete you’re striping, you may have to go back around the perimeter to hide the marks from turning around.
You’re a Pro!
Now that you’ve completed you’re first stripe session, turn around and admire your work. You are now in a league of yard professionals, and this will truly make your property stand out from the rest of the neighborhood. Sit back and enjoy a few cold ones for a job well done! You now know how to stripe your lawn!
Do you have any tips on striping, or maybe a DIY striper you have tried? Leave comments below, we’d love to hear from you. for more information: reservdelar online would the ideal place.