How to get a striped lawn
We've all seen those immaculate lawns, with inch perfect stripes
glistening
in the summer sun. If you want to be the envy of your neighbours, take
a
read of this simple guide.
Striped lawns look good as they hide imperfections in a lawn such as
slight
differences in colour. This is because the stripes visually
break up the lawn surface with narrow bands of different colour so
gradual changes across a wide area are not so noticeable.
Achieving a neat striped lawn is actually
quite simple, assuming you've got the right lawnmower. Hover
lawnmowers
are certainly not appropriate for creating beautifully crafted stripes
as they
don't press on the grass with any force to flatten it. What you need is
either
a rotary or cylinder lawnmower that has a rear roller.
A striped lawn is achieved by following a simple pattern of mowing. It
should be noted that the lawnmower should only ever be pushed in one
direction
when creating stripes, this is because the direction of the mowing
determines
the direction that the grass sits up, creating the striped effect.
One other important point to mention, is that you should always overlap
adjacent
stripes,
in order to avoid leaving a gap of uncut grass between them.
Work out which direction your stripes are going to go.
1. Cut along the edge of the lawn at right angles to the way that you
want the stripes to be and then back across the lawn making sure to
overlap the first stripe. These stripes are not your final lawn
stripes, they are simply to ensure that the grass is cut right to the
edge of the lawn.
2. Turn the mower 90 degrees.
3. Create your first permanent stripe by going down the edge of the
lawn in the direction that you want your stripes to go.
4. Repeat step 1 (now at the other end of the lawn)
5. You can now create the rest of the lawn stripes and 'fill in' the
middle section of the lawn by repeatedly turning the mower 180 °. After
this you should have mown the entire area of the lawn and have a neat
pattern of lawn mower stripes.
Don't know which lawnmower is best
for you?
Read our Buyers Guide