I am a little particular when I mow my yard. Often, I get asked what is the striping kit that I use to get the dark and the light stripes in the yard. More than once, folks have not really believed me when I say I do not use a striping kit such as a roller or a brush that attaches to your mower that actually makes the grass all lay in one direction and gives you stripes that look like the National Football League (NFL) football fields and Major League Baseball (MLB) fields. Those folks definitely use equipment when doing really intricate designs. 

But the truth of the matter is, if you do not want to spend that kind of money to put these special attachments on your mowers, you really do not need to. The mower that I use is 100% stock. There is nothing extra that I have added to it. But, there are a few tips to how to get a pretty nice looking lawn just simply by mowing. 

Tips On How To Stripe A Lawn

1) Invest in a quality lawn mower

I have used different brands of lawn mowers: Toro, Husqvarna, Craftsman, John Deere, Kubota ... You name it, I have probably used it. Unfortunately, with lawn mowers, you do get what you pay for. The mower that I use right now is John Deere Z915B.  I do not think I have ever used a better mower than this. Amazing machine! It is not top of the line but it is certainly not at the bottom either. 

2) Keep those blades sharp

One of the biggest things I have found in order to keep the stripes in the yard is sharp mower blades. It is probably the biggest one behind just the machine itself. Luckily, most of the mowing shops offer services to sharpen blades for you at cheap prices. The one that I go to charges $7 per blade. My mower has three blades on it, so it is 21 bucks. I usually swap out the blades about every month or every four to six weeks or so, to keep those blades sharp. That is really critical. When I see the stripes are fading in the yard - they are not as dark as what they normally would be - I know that it is time to change out the blades. 

3) Mow the same two directions every time

I literally mow the same two directions every time. If I am not mowing forward to back, I go at a 45 degree angle the other direction. But it is always one of those two. So, I have kind of, so to speak, “trained” the grass which way it is going to lay. As you mow the same direction, literally the stripes will be exactly the same every single time within a couple of inches. The other thing that helps with this is, again, the machine and its sharp blades. When you have a good machine with sharp blades, it creates a sort of suction, a vacuum under the mower deck. The machines are meant to do that because it makes the grass stand up and then obviously cuts it all. The better machine you have and the sharper the blades are, the better suction you are going to get. And so, it sucks the grass up and cuts it and makes it lay all evenly in one direction. 

4) Keep the underside of the deck clean

Tip number four would be to keep the undersides of the mower deck clean. Whenever I swap out my blades, I clean the mower deck itself, the underside. Anybody who mows grass a lot knows that the grass compacts and almost ends up like a rock on the underside of the mower deck. Make sure you clean that off because the suction power is lessened when you have got a bunch of stuff clumped up under there.

5) Know your grass

When mowing your grass, experiment with heights. Experiment with wet grass versus dry grass. For me, it is not best to mow my grass when it is super wet nor when it is super dry. And I like to mow the grass right around four inches. It is healthier for the grass and will give you the maximum striping effect, too. 

For anybody who cares, anybody who likes the striping in their lawn to look like it is ready for an MLB game, I hope these tips are helpful. And, just know that you do not have to spend big money on equipment. No rollers. No brushes. No striping kits. You can do it just purely stock if you know what you are doing. If ever you have any questions or need help in the real estate space, never hesitate to reach out. Call me at 571-393-1082 or email [email protected].