Most homeowners believe that lawn mowing is a monotonous job.
Well, we’d agree that it is true to some extent, especially if you have to mow more frequently than usual to keep an acceptable grass height. However, it doesn’t have to be like that if you try to make it fun by creating lawn mowing patterns.
Whether you want to try something new or compete with a neighbor, learning a few fancy lawn mowing design techniques is always a smart decision. That’s why, in this informative guide, we’ve listed down a few exciting mowing patterns tips that can help make mowing fun and take your lawn to the next level.
So, without further ado, let’s jump right in.
Table of Contents
Preparation
Firstly, it is crucial to ensure that the lawn care equipment is up for the job. If your lawnmower is not up to the mark, it is your lawn that will suffer. Believe it or not, things like these can create a huge difference. Therefore, you must do some upkeep to ensure that the engine is as good as a new one.
Here are a few tips that you can follow:
- Ensure the engine is filled with enough oil
- Get rid of any junk or debris accumulated around the fan over time
- Use fresh gasoline, especially if it is the first mowing season of the year
- Turn on the engine, and make sure it sounds like a new one
Top 8 Lawn Mowing Patterns Techniques
These are the top 8 lawn mowing pattern techniques:
Use Your Mower Correctly
This one is not exactly a technique but rather a tip that you must follow at all times while mowing your lawn. We know many people tend to pull their lawn mower backward alongside the line that they just mowed. Keep in mind that you are pulling a highly functional gas-powered machine that is designed to cut things towards yourself.
So, until and unless you want a major accident to occur, we suggest you avoid doing it.
Cool-Season Grass
If you want to get the best results, consider working with cool-season grasses, as they tend to be richer and greener than warm-season grasses. The reason is warm-season grasses are a bit on the rougher and rigid side because of their low water content. Hence, we strongly recommend working with the former.
Don’t Follow The Same Pattern
It is always a good idea to keep changing the mowing stripes. After three times cutting the grass, in the same way, make sure you switch up your stripes to prevent damaging the lawn. This will ensure the turf that your wheels have run over get the required rest to heal properly.
Mowing Stripes Are All About Reflection
There is a preconceived notion that lawn stripping is done by mowing the grass at different heights. Although each stripe appears to have different heights, that is not the case. The stripes are simply made by light refracting at different angles off the grass blades.
Think of bending a piece of grass over on its side. When you look at it from one angle, you will see the flat side of the grass blade. However, if you look at it from the opposite direction, you will only see the tip, isn’t that so?
When the grass blades are bent towards you, the grass looks darker, creating darker lawn stripes. This is because you are looking at blade tips and the shadows under the grass. On the other hand, when the grass blades are bent away from you, the grass appears to be lighter since the light reflects off the flat part of the grass blade.
Those bright and dark stripes will appear the opposite if viewed from different angles.
Move In Opposite Directions
Whether you create simple grass-cutting patterns or other patterns such as a row, diamond, spiral, and checkerboard patterns, make sure you mow in opposite directions. This will add the much-desired contrast and make your lawn look much better.
Set A Boundary
It doesn’t matter what mow patterns you choose; just make sure you cut around the entire perimeter of the yard. This will help you detect any swells and grass bends in the turf that could affect the perfectly straight lines that you are aiming for. Lastly, you should finish up by mowing around the perimeter again to remove any irregularities.
Keep The Grass Growing
If you keep the grass taller and the mower deck higher, it will allow your stripe pattern to pop even more. This is because taller grasses are more flexible. On the other hand, shorter grasses barely get affected and tend to pop right back, making your efforts futile. Therefore, it is best to let the grass grow to create your favorite lawn mowing patterns.
Keep Rolling
If you want to keep creating stripes that look great, make sure you bend the grass towards the ground. The ideal way of doing this is by using a lawn roller, or you can purchase a striping kit online for your lawn mower; it would work just as fine.
Both a striping kit and a lawn roller can bend the grass down towards the ground.
Top 4 Lawn Mowing Patterns
Now that you have learned the techniques, let’s look at some of the most common mowing patterns you can consider.
Circles And Lines
If your lawn has different features, consider making circles around them. And then create straight lines for the remaining area of the lawn. Doing this will add the much-needed contrast to your yard and increase its beauty.
Stripes
This is perhaps the most commonly used and the simplest design of all. First, you need to make a clean edge of the whole lawn using your mower. Next, decide in which direction you want to bend the grass blades. Then attach the roller to your mower, and turn the grass in that direction, and you are done.
Diamond Pattern
The diamond pattern is a lot similar to the stripes pattern. For this, you need to make a second pass by mowing on top of the stripes but diagonally from one end to the other to get the desired result.
Checkerboard Pattern
This pattern is a tad bit time-consuming to create compared to the other patterns. First, you have to create the stripes vertically or horizontally across the lawn. Once you are done, you need to produce a second set of stripes over the first ones perpendicularly. Make sure you create the turns slowly to prevent damage.
Lastly, finish off the look by creating a final pass around the boundary of the lawn for cleaner edges.
Top Advantages Of Creating Fancy Lawn Mowing Patterns
Apart from providing you with the magnificent-looking lawn in the neighborhood, there are a host of benefits of creating mowing patterns in your yard.
Hides Imperfections
Perhaps, the best part of mowing patterns is that it helps hide the minor imperfections in your otherwise beautiful lawn, making it look almost perfect. Thus, it’s safe to say that it is an ideal way to make your lawn stand out from the other yards in the neighborhood and make the neighbors envious!
Improves The Health Of The Lawn
For creating patterns, you have to let the grass grow, which is highly beneficial for the lawn.
But when you cut more than one-third of the leaf blade, it leaves less area on the leaf blades to absorb sunlight required to perform photosynthesis. As a result, the plant creates less food, thereby making it prone to insects and diseases.
Furthermore, it prevents the growth of the roots, creating a shallow and small root system, which fails to support the plants when there is drought. Long story short, grasses allowed to grow over time will sport a large and strong root system that can stand the test of dry periods better.
Reduces Damage
While mowing, if you use the same pattern time and again, it lessens the airflow in the grass, which could lead to various diseases in your lawn. Even worse, repetitive tire tracks can create ugly dead spots and invite weeds to grow on them.
That is why you should switch up your lawn mowing patterns to keep the grass from getting flattened and reduce the damage caused by the lawn mower tires. Thus, it would allow optimal airflow and encourage the growth of the grass.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
In this section, we have tried answering some of the most frequently asked questions to clarify any further doubts that you might have about lawn mowing pattern techniques.
How often should you change the mowing directions?
As you know, if you mow the lawn in the same direction every time, the grass will grow or lean at one particular angle. And that’s why it is advised to switch the mowing patterns by 90 degrees of the current angle every week.
Why is mowing so important?
Mowing is important because it enhances the density of your lawn and keeps the roots of the plants healthy. Plus, it is a no-brainer that a healthy root system equals more water and nutrients being absorbed, improving the quality and longevity of the turf.
Can mowing make the grass bigger?
Mowing can most certainly stimulate the growth of your grass because the tip of the grass blades contains hormones that prevent horizontal growth. So, when you mow the lawn, you cut those tips, which allows the grass to grow freely and become thicker near its roots.
Final Thoughts
With that, we have come to the end of our informative guide. Hopefully, you have picked up a few fancy lawn mowing patterns techniques by now. So, what are you waiting for? Fire up your lawn mower and start mowing to create the lawn of your dreams!
Before we wrap it up, here’s our last word of advice: remember to plant cool-season grass seeds wherever you can, as it can help you build a lush lawn. And it goes without saying that the lusher the lawn, the more malleable it will be to your mowing designs.
