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Difficulty
Ballpark stripes
Light and dark bands like a stadium outfield. Pure optics: the grass is bent, not cut differently.
Cut height
3 to 3.5 in
Mows per week
1 to 2
Hours per week
1.5
Extra cost per year
$60 to $120
How the course does it
Fairways and outfields are mowed with reel mowers that have a heavy roller behind the reel. Grass bent toward you looks dark, grass bent away looks light. That is the whole trick.
Mower
Rotary mower plus a striping kit (a weighted roller behind the deck, $60 to $120)
How you do it
- Add a striping roller to your mower, or a lawn roller pulled behind a rider
- Mow in straight passes, alternating direction each pass
- Mow taller: longer blades bend more and stripe harder
- Change pattern each week (straight, then diagonal, then checkerboard)
- Bluegrass stripes best. Tall fescue barely stripes; fine fescue not at all
Works with
Straight talk
The kit pays for itself in compliments by June.