MOWING STRIPES

Mowing stripes into your lawn is a one of the final touches to getting a premium lawn. These stripes are simply caused by flattening the grass in different directions, as you mow it. 

If you are going to get stripes in your lawn, you will need the correct lawn mower. You will need a mower with a roller attachment to get clean and defined stripes in your lawn, although you may get some faint lines without this, so give it a go anyway. 

1. Work out your direction

Decide the direction in which you would like to cut the stripes. This is pretty straight forward for a regularly shaped lawn; your stripes will normally be cut lengthways into the lawn. If you have a lawn that is not regular, then picking this may not be obvious for you. Regardless, try and ensure that you are mowing the stripes in the direction that gives the longest stripes.

2. Cut your ends

You want to cut the short ends of the lawn first. By cutting the short ends first, this means that you can then cut the stripes into the lawn without any disruptions and ensuring that no parts of the lawn are missed. 

If you do not cut the ends of the lawn first, you will undoubtedly miss parts of your lawn as you spin around at the end of each stripe. 

3. Cut your stripes

Once you have cut the ends of the lawn, you can then cut in your stripes - this bit is the easy bit. Go up and down your lawn, overlapping slightly with your stripes to ensure that no grass is missed. As a rough guide, use your wheels as a marker to give you the slight overlap. 

When you get to the end of each stripe, ensure that you are at the end of the lawn (which you should have cut in step 2) before you turn. 

Check out the image below to see this pattern



4. Finishing touches

Finally, do your finishing touches. Make sure you have edged your lawn and tidy up any bits you have missed.