Lawn Striping

I am by no mean a hater, but I'm also not a big fanatic of baseball. I also did not really pay much attention to grass until a few years ago. Because of these two reasons I did not really know about lawn striping until driving through the Ohio-Kentucky area a few years back and noticing that the grass had striping patterns in it. While driving around I noticed it quite often and wondered why I did not see it very much in Florida. I more recently learned that it is because most warm season grasses are more rigid and do not bend as well. In addition to this, it is more common to use rotary mowers in the south which do not create patterns unless a roller is attached. So how do the professionals create that striped pattern? Patterns in the grass are created by bending the grass blades in alternating swaths. Grass that its bent towards you appears darker while grass that is bent away from you appears lighter due to the reflection of the sun. Bending the grass is accomplished by a roller which bends the grass downward while mowing. Here are some keys to creating a nice striping pattern.

• Have the right type of grass - Most cool season grasses stripe very well because they bend very well. Warm season grasses are more rigid and do not bend very well. Bermuda, and zoysia grass are two warm season grasses that stripe fairly well but not as well as cool season grasses.
• Have the right mower or attachment - Reel mowers already have rollers attached to them as part of their function and additional rollers can be added if desired but rotary mowers will need some type of roller attachment which are on the market.
• Height of the grass - The grass must be fairly tall to stripe. The higher the cut is, the more the grass will bend. 
• Icing on top - A final touch to make the pattern really pop out is to water it right after creating the pattern. This will make the reflection of light even more noticeable.

 There are many guides as to how to actually get out there and make these patterns work. I have found this guide to be very helpful in learning how to create striping patterns in the lawn.