How To Stripe Your Lawn Without a Striper

April 15, 2018

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Have you every been driving around and saw a lawn with cool looking stripes in it? Or have you been to a baseball field or golf event or were watching the event on TV and wonder how they make it look so nice? They could have had it professionally done like the baseball fields or golf courses or they could have bought their own lawn striping kit and did it themselves. Well, there is a way to achieve lawn stripes without having it professionally done or buying a lawn striping kit. Today I am going to show you how to stripe your lawn without a striper.

How To Stripe Your Lawn Without a Striper
perfectly striped freshly mowed lawn.

What Causes The Stripes In Your Lawn?

When you come across a lawn with stripes in it, do you ever wonder what causes the stripes? It almost looks like you need a special kind of grass to achieve the striping. Well, actually, the stripes in the lawn are caused by sunlight! The grass in each stripe are pushed over in a different direction than the stripe next to it. The sunlight reflects off of the blades of grass and because they are pushed in a different directions, it looks like stripes. That is all that causes those sweet looking lawn stripes.

Benefits to Lawn Striping

Not only does lawn striping look cool, it is also very good for your lawn. Why you ask? Well, if you continuously mow your lawn in one direction, the taller grass bends over and covers up the grass underneath it. This causes the grass underneath to not get enough sunlight and potentially kill the grass. This is a great reason to not only stripe your lawn, but also to alternate the stripes and the direction of your lawn regularly.

Best Grass Types for Lawn Striping

Because not all grass is created equally, some grass types stripe better than others. Do an experiment once. Take a look at the striping at a baseball field in the south like Texas or Florida and compare it to the lawn striping at a baseball field in the north like Milwaukee or Minnesota. You will notice that the lawn striping at the ballparks in the north are much nicer than the ballparks on the south. Why? Well, the grass down south are more warm season grass types like Bermuda and they have more of a stem than a blade. It doesn't lay down as nice. On the flip side, the grass in the north is more of a cool season grass like fescue, which has more blade then stem and lays down much nicer.

How To Stripe Your Lawn Without A Lawn Striping Kit

Like I said above, you could hire a professional, purchase a lawn striping kit or even make your own lawn striper, but today I am going to tell you how to make the stripes with just your lawn mower!!! This works with a push mower or a riding mower. Here are the steps:

  1. Mow your lawn to about 2-3 inches long. The longer the blades of grass are, the better they will lay down.
  2. If you have a big lawn, you may want to rig a guide to make the stripes straight. I use a string/rope tied to ends of a stake or stick. If you have a smaller lawn or you trust your accuracy, you could skip this step.
  3. This next step is very important. You need to lower the lawn mower deck to it's lowest setting to the ground. Make sure you lower the front and the back of the mower deck.
  4. If you have a push mower, do not start it or if you have a riding mower, start the mower, but do not engage the mower blades. You are not cutting the grass doing the striping this way!
  5. Using your guide if you made one in step 2, just push your mower with the motor off or drive your riding mower with the blades not cutting in a straight line from one side of your yard to the other creating your first stripe.
  6. Now, if your are using a riding mower, you may want to raise the mower deck up before you hit a concrete street or driveway. Or if you are using a push mower, you may want to push on the handle lifting the mower deck off the concrete when you turn the mower around.
  7. Keep rotating direction and stripe your lawn!! Remember to alternate your stripes every so often to let all of the grass get sunlight!

Alternate Ways To Stripe Your Lawn Without a Striper

If you have a really, really small lawn and don't use a lawn mower, you can still create lawn stripes. Here is a list of other things you could use. Just make sure your are going in different directions with each stripe

  • A large broom
  • A floor squeegee
  • A two by four or bigger
  • A table tipped over

Well, I hope I have helped you with your lawn striping. Please feel free to leave a comment if you liked this post.

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