Lawn striping 101.  Ever wonder how professional sports fields and professional lawn mowers get stripes in their lawns?  It is not as hard as you might think.  Lawn striping has a lot to do with the operator and type of equipment being used.  Professional operators know how to tackle a mowing project from start to finish and make it look like a master piece.

Below, learn how to add stripes to your lawn.

• Make sure that your mower blades are sharp.
• Set the front of your mower deck slightly lower than the front of your deck.
• Add a rolling bar.  An optional attachment is a rolling bar mounted on the back of your mower.
• Make sure that your mower deck is clean of all debris.
• Use your side discharge chute or bag.  Do not mulch without your side discharge chute open as this can cause clumping.
• Make two to three perimeter passes around your property with your mower.  (Make sure your chute faces in towards the lawn).
• Once you have made your perimeter passes, start mowing a straight line on one side of your property.  (Look for an object to focus your line on, so that it is straight)
• Turn around and make your second mower pass parallel to your last pass.  If your mower line needs to be corrected, now is the time to make your corrections.
• Once you have reached the end of your second mower line, double check to make sure that both lines are straight and parallel.
• Make sure that you only have a few inches overlap of your mower deck.  Consistency is the key.  You want to make sure that all of your mower lines are the same width.
• If you encounter an object such as a tree, make sure to mow a path around the object on the mower line before.  This will give you the illusion that your line goes through the object.
• If you circle the object when you are mowing the line that goes through the object, you will mess up your other lines.
• Continue to mow back and forwarth until your lawn is mowed.  Lawn striping will automatically occur if you follow the above instructions.