Do you ever think that why some lawns and playing grounds have striking stripes over grass? How do they draw stripes over grass? That is not an art or paintwork nor it’s an exotic type of grass. However, it’s just a technical way to mow the grass known as lawn striping.
Lawn stripes are the two shades of grass bending in opposite directions but require some technical knowledge to cut the grass at some more height for easy bending with lawn stripers or roller attached to it.
When the sunlight reflects through the patches of grass bending towards you, it gives a dark look while the blades bending away from you look light green. This way, the visual effect of alternating patches and sunlight reflection produces stripes over the lawn.
But creating those stripes in a sharp manner is not as simple as it seems. A healthy growing and disease-free lawn is the primary thing in lawn striping and that can be achieved only by providing the best lawn fertilizers and lawn fungicides to keep the lawn free of any diseases and dry patches.
The technicalities come in cutting the grass sharply to a little more height uniformly, so that grass blades can bend over by rolling lawn stripes behind the mower.
Choosing the best quality lawn mower blades for stripping and cutting the grass is the main pillar to improve the curb appeal of lawn and property. That’s why I build this guide on the best lawn mower blades for striping to assist the people searching for mower blades.
Let’s start.
What is lawn striping?
Lawn striping is basically known as the dark and light patterns of effects on a lawn in which some patches of grass look darker while some look lighter. These variations of effects are produced by the sunlight reflection on the bentgrass blades.
The grass blades bending towards you look darker in sunlight while the blades bending opposite to you produce a light reflection.
How lawn mower blades play a role in striping?
Lawn mower blades have a pillar role in lawn striping. A well sharp-edged and fine cut grass improves the aesthetic beauty of lawn, and you can get it only by cutting with sharp-edged mower blades.
The grass is mowed at a bit up height to get the smooth bending of blades and clear stripes. The stripping blades are specially designed to cut the grass at some height for easy bending and sharp edging to get a smooth cut.
Best lawn mower blades for striping Reviews
1. EGO Power+ AB2101 21-Inch Lawn Mower High Lift Blade
Ego power’ high lift mower blade provides excellent results when installed to a mower for striping. They highly sharpen blades to give a smooth cut to taller grass.
The 21-inch blades are made of durable material that is resistant to rust and corrosion and remains sharp for more time while cutting through the coarse grasses. It aids in mulching as well as lift cutting but requires a little more power than the original blades of the mower.
The high lift blades provide efficient results in cutting and bagging the grass blades while mowing in tall grass. Additionally, it delivers distinct cuts that look uniform and even.
It is compatible with a lot of 21-inch mowers. Most of the self-propelled lawn mowers like EGO power 21-inch self-propelled lawn mowers have the best compatibility with these blades.
You can check its model number and the holes numbering and design of the blade to check its suitability for your mower’s deck. But it works great for all of the EGO Power lawn mowers in the prescribed deck size.
2. Stens 340 178 Hi-Lift Lawn Mower Tractor Blade
Stens 340 178 hi Lift lawn mower blades are the best riding lawn mower blades for stripes. It is the perfect match for the person looking for the high lift mowing blades for the lawn tractor with a 42-inch deck size.
The blades are made of high quality that is resistant to any corrosion and damages by the debris materials over the grass.
The material used in making these blades ensures the longer life of blades in this price range. In addition to striping, they are a perfect replacement for giving a smooth and uniform cut to your grass.
The blade is a bit fewer than 42-inches so that it fits perfectly in the 42-inch deck. The durability and strength of the blade can be observed from the material and the 0.14-inch thickness of blades that are 2.25 inches wide to give enough power while mowing through the tough grass.
Stens 42-inch high lift mower blades are perfect replacements for a wide range of models like Ariens 21546095, Craftsman 127843, 138971, 138498, and Husqvarna 532.
The product consists of a set of 2 high lift blades for giving the smooth cut through tough grass. Replacing the mower blades with this one will save you from the hassle of replacing them frequently.
The blades have a 6-star center hole that allows the user to check the compatibility with only a 6 star mower.
3. Ariens 3PK Genuine OEM Gravely 04771200 52″ Zero Turn Lawn Mower Blades
Ariens 3PK 04771200 52” lawnmower blades are the best zero-turn lawn mower blades for stripes. This set of blades are specially designed for the Gravely 04771200 zero-turn lawn mower model with a 52-inch deck.
The set of three blades are made of high-quality material that is much durable and strong enough to cut the tough grass in a sharp manner.
Blades are 52 inches wide and easily fit inside the deck of lawn mowers to cut smoothly over the tall grass blades. The blades are 2.25 inches wide to provide strength and durability to the rotating blades while mowing in tough grass.
The package includes three 52 inches blades that are completely compatible with grave lawnmowers. Additionally, it is also compatible with other 52 inches deck-sized lawn mowers.
The only care in buying this product is to match the model number of blades with the lawn mower. You can also compare the placement of the holes on the blades with the previous lawn mower blades to check the compatibility.
Installation of these zero-turn mower blades is much easier than any other blade and does not require any special tools.
4. John Deere Original Equipment 3 Mower Blades
John Deere has a good name in manufacturing gardening and lawn tools. The quality and durability of their tools can be observed in the long life of the tools.
These lawn mower blades for striping are premium-grade tools by John Deere. These blades are compatible with all John Deere models of lawn mowers with a 48-inch deck size.
It consists of three blades in the package and all of the blades are of OEM quality that promises the durability and strength of the blades. It provides the smooth cutting through the tall grass and leaves behind the smooth cut to produce the stripes over the lawn by rolling the lawn striper or drum roller.
The steel-made blades guarantee longer life and add the curb appeal of the lawn by uniformly cutting the grass. The blades are made for 48-inch deck-sized lawn mowers.
The best thing about these blades is that they are easy to install and well balanced in the mower’s deck. Additionally, they are in a good price range.
How can you get stripes over your lawn?
This is an interesting query about how it is possible to get the stripes over the grass. As previously described, lawn mower blades have an important role in lawn striping but bending the grass blades requires lawn stripers.
Lawn stripers are heavy, cylindrical, metallic, and tow-behind rollers that are attached behind the mowers to bend the grass blades with the heavyweight of the roller.
- Rake the leaves and any fallen material on the grass with help of rakes and clean any debris material.
- To get the lawn stripes on your lawn, you need to get the best lawn mower blades for striping that can fix well with your lawn mower deck size and the best lawn striper that is compatible with the mower size.
- In addition, you can also fill the roller drum with sand or water to increase the drum weight for more bending.
- Choose a striping pattern of your choice and start mowing the lawn to get the desired pattern. Tow behind the lawn striper/roller with the mower to bend the grass. This way you will get the striping patterns along with mowing.
Agri Fab lawn roller is the best lawn roller in terms of quality and durability. It is a tow behind roller that can be attached with any riding lawn mower.
How much grass height is good for lawn striping?
A sharp, uniform, and taller cut grass is good for creating the stripes on the lawn. Because the taller grass is easy to bend than the shorter cut grass blades.
The best height for lawn striping is 2.5 to 4 inches.
Benefits of lawn striping
In addition to getting the beautiful stripes on the lawn, there are a lot more benefits of lawn striping to your grass.
Here are the benefits of lawn striping:
- Mowing again and again in one direction will make the grass dry and unhealthy and ultimately results in a form of an uneven lawn. Mowing is one direction will deprive sunlight of the shorter grass and ends up drying the grass. So, the lawn striping in two directions will solve that problem.
- When you mow the grass for striping, you will get more time for spotting slow growth patches and unhealthy grass spots.
- It improves the curb appeal of the lawn by drawing various stripes diagonally.
- Lawn striping improves the grass health by providing the exposure of grass blades to sunlight by changing the stripe patterns every two to five weeks from north to south and east to west.
- It saves the grass from ruts and sunlight blockage by flipping the grass direction from time to time.
Does lawn striping work for all grasses?
No, lawn striping does not work for all types of grasses. It works only for long and fine-bladed grasses that are fine-textured and easy to bend towards the ground.
Lawn striping effect looks better and attractive in long and sharp cut grasses than the short stubby grasses. The coarse-textured grasses are not good for lawn striping as they do not cooperate in terms of bending.
Types of lawn striping patterns
Lawn striping has a lot of patterns. All patterns have a unique way of drawing, but the mowing height is the same for all patterns.
Here are some most famous striping patterns.
Basic Stripe Pattern
The basic stripe pattern can go either east to west or south to north. Start mowing the mower from one side of the lawn in a single direction and parallel. Attach the lawn striper behind the lawn mower to bend the grass along with mowing.
When you reach the other end, lift the cutting deck up and mow a new stripe adjacent to the previous one but in the opposite direction. Mow the stripes until you get stripes all over the lawn.
Checkerboard pattern
To get the checkerboard pattern on your lawn, create the basic stripe pattern in either direction and then repeat the basic stripe pattern in a perpendicular direction to the previous one.
Diagonal pattern
You can create a diagonal stripe pattern by mowing the lawn diagonally from the edge instead of parallel to the lawn edge.
Things to consider in a lawn mower blade for striping
All the mower blades are not compatible with lawn striping. Most of the mower blades are designed to cut the grass to lower height and you can cut grass to a little more height even by lifting the deck but it is not ok for lawn striping. So the striping lawn mower blades come to fill this gap.
Here are some basic features of the best lawn mower blade for striping:
Blade size
Blade size includes the width and length of the stripe blade. Make sure to get the striping blades that are compatible with the deck size of the mower and easily replaceable. Replacing the blades with low quality and shorter blades will leave uncut patches on the lawn.
Model number
All the striping blades are compatible with a special type of mower, so considering the model number of blades is crucial for getting the best lawn mower blade.
By just knowing the model number, you can easily get the high lift replacement blade for striping.
Choosing the lawn mower blades by considering the model number is more efficient than by counting the blade holes method.
Blade shape
The blade shape is a necessary thing to save yourself from any kind of hassle of damage to the mower. Check whether the blade is single or three-bladed or it is curved or straight depending on the previous shape of the mower blade.
The well-compatible blade according to the previous one will exactly fit in your mower and gives excellent performance.
Cares to be taken while striping a lawn
Here are some cares to be observed while mowing the lawn for striping. Otherwise, you will get big harm to the grass.
1. Lawn striping loses intensity if you cut the grass too short
The taller one gets bent towards the ground easily with the weight of the roller instead of the short one. It exposes the grass blades more towards the sunlight and more striping effect.
Lawn stripes give a more intensive look if cuts at a height of 2.5 to 4 inches, so avoid mowing the grass shorter than this height.
2. Lawn striping shouldn’t be repeated in the same pattern
Lawn striping needs to be repeated every three to five weeks, depending on the grass type and height. A 2.5 to 4 inch cut grass bends over for more time than shorter ones.
But one care needs to be taken to not repeat the same pattern in each striping otherwise the lower sides of grass blades will die permanently by less exposure to sunlight.
Alternating the striping pattern every two to five weeks is the best practice to keep the grass healthy.
