Mowing Patterns With Your Lawn Mower

Have you ever looked over at a neighbor’s yard and become green with envy because it’s so beautiful? If you’re longing to give your plots of grass a makeover to improve your property’s curb appeal, why not try mowing patterns into your yard? You may be surprised to learn that it’s not as hard as you think! You don’t even need professional assistance to do it yourself. Here are our tips so that you can make your own neighbors jealous instead.

Allow Your Grass to Grow Long

Trying to mow patterns into really short grass isn’t going to get you anywhere since you need some length in order to bend the blades in various directions, which is what creates your patterns. The bent blades reflect sunlight at different angles, which creates the light-and-dark contrast you want. Let your grass grow until it’s about 3” long before attempting to mow it into a pattern for best results.

Edge the Lawn

To make the patterns neat and to give yourself some guidelines to work with, it’s a good idea to mow a strip around the perimeter of your yard. This gives you space to turn your mower around without destroying the pattern you’re making, and it neatens up the whole result. You can also use a lawn trimmer to clean up those pesky edges near fences and driveways that your mower can’t catch.

Patterns to Attempt

There are a wealth of options when it comes to creating a pattern in your grass, and these are some of the easiest to do:

• Stripes: Line up your mower with the edge you’ve created, either horizontally or vertically, and mow in a straight line. As you turn the mower around, make sure to line it up evenly with the row you’ve just cut, and go back and forth until you’re done.
• Circles: This pattern is great for yards that have a lot of obstacles in them. Pick your biggest roadblock (a tree or shrub, for example) and mow around it in concentric circles until you reach the edges of the yard.
• Checkerboard or Diamonds: Both of these patterns are created in a similar fashion, by beginning at a corner of your yard and mowing in diagonal stripes up and down to the opposite corner. For a checkered pattern, you’ll keep the mower at right angles, but for diamonds, you’ll need to create a wider obtuse angle with your mower. This may take some practice, but you’ll soon get it right.

Stop by one of our Alabama locations in Centre or Alexandria today to view our stock of new and used lawn mowers for sale. We can also help you out with financing options. Foothills Tractor & Equipment is your locally-owned and operated lawn mower dealer, serving greater Birmingham, AL.