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Q I would like to know how to make my lawn look like the grass at major-league ballparks. Is it cut or fertilized in a certain way, or just how do they get those great patterns?
Click image to enlarge.
A You can stripe your lawn like a pro—all it takes is practice and a roller on the back of your mower.
The roller simply bends the grass in the direction you’re traveling, and the bent grass reflects light differently, creating stripes. You see lighter green stripes if the grass has been mowed and rolled away from you, and darker green stripes if it has been mowed and rolled toward you.
You’ll get the strongest striping effect with ryegrass, fescue and bluegrass. You won’t see as great a color contrast between the stripes if you have warm-season grasses such as Bermuda or zoysia.
You can create a checkerboard design by mowing the grass back and forth in side-by-side rows, and then mowing a second time perpendicular to the first. In this way, you alternate the way the grass bends. And if you water the grass after mowing, your pattern will stand out even more.
Weighted lawn rollers are often available for purchase or rent at lawn and garden supply stores. Or look on-line at such sites as www.yardsngardens.com or www.4backyards.com.
Some lawn mower manufacturers (visit www.simplicitymfg.com, for example) are beginning to make riding mowers with full-width rollers mounted to the rear of the mower to make this task easier.
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