OFF TOPIC UGLY lawn mowing stripes. Am I the only one?

[Black Forest]

That was the best method. It allowed you time to do other things like spend time with the family. The goat provided milk and the by product from eating all the grass could be used to fertilize the garden.

The good old days !

JL...............

Goats leave the lawn looking like ****! For all you lazy basterds get off your ass and go mow your lawns!

[Black Forest]

Don’t forget Big Chem (Roundup,Spectricide)!

Better living through Chemistry!

[jmarkwolf]

I'm not interested in striping, not even sure how its done, but I have started mowing at (with a zero turn) 45 degrees to the old pattern. Now every time , I alternate the 45 degree and the lawn seems to like it. It is looking better that ever.

Sarge41

I agree.

I had a lawn mowing service for a few weeks, a couple years ago when I contracted bronchitis. The lawn looked real good so I kept them for the entire season. They would alternate the pattern each mowing and the grass never looked so good. I've since copied their pattern changing each mowing, and the lawn continues to look good.

[Beazld]

Lawns are a conspiracy of Big Grass Seed, Big Fertilizer, and Big Lawn Mower! Don't drink the Koolaid! Plant gardens!

Don’t forget Big Chem (Roundup,Spectricide)!

[Black Forest]

It seems to me that some of you men need a little education in lawn maintenance. I used to be a part owner in a golf course. I love grass. Between cattle, horses and golf I know a little bit about grass. The main reason for mowing on alternating directions is to keep from making depressions in the ground. If you always mow in the same pattern you get depressions in the ground from the tires of whatever equipment you are using. The rollers that you all seem to think are superficial are actually smoothing the ground not the grass. The stripes are a by-product. I for one like the looks of the stripes. It brings order to a chaotic world in some small way. It takes no more effort to mow geometrically than randomly, at least for me. I would think as machinists you all would appreciate the precision of a well kept lawn. My wife makes a joke about me taking my calipers and measuring the length of the grass so I can mow it again. Our mower is a commercial golf course mower that makes mowing enjoyable. It mows 2.5 meters wide in one pass. It is efficient so it feels good to mow. People often comment on how good our lawn looks and ask what I kind of mower I have. Normally I tell them I use just 22" mowers. Normal response is something like, "no way". Then when I show them my mower they smile. The mower has 5 22" decks that all move independently of each other. It is called a contour mower. It is what gets used to mow the roughs at a golf course. I love my mower.

[JoeLee]

Looking at a few of the old family photographs taken well before the invention of lawn mowers, and the soon to follow obsession with manicured turf. In pictures of the house there typically was a goat tethered to a long rope, nose to the ground, chomping away oblivious to surrounding activity.

That was the best method. It allowed you time to do other things like spend time with the family. The goat provided milk and the by product from eating all the grass could be used to fertilize the garden.

The good old days !

JL...............

[tom_d]

If it weren't for the lawn police, I would never mow my lawn.

Looking at a few of the old family photographs taken well before the invention of lawn mowers, and the soon to follow obsession with manicured turf. In pictures of the house there typically was a goat tethered to a long rope, nose to the ground, chomping away oblivious to surrounding activity.

[J Tiers]

Then again, they probably think you lawn is too plain without stripes. At least they are keeping it mowed and are not parking POS RV's in the yard.

No lawn is complete without a Camaro up on blocks with the doors in the dirt!

[JoeLee]

I don't care one way or the other.

But I've always been puzzled by the practice of laying down the stripes in a diagonal pattern, which became the fad many years ago. It would make sense if the geometry of the lawn dictated doing so, but most often it requires more complicated maneuvering. Though it has seemed to have fallen somewhat out of vogue in recent years.

I could care less what my lawn looks like, but that diamond pattern is typical of baseball fields.

JL.....

[sarge41]

I'm not interested in striping, not even sure how its done, but I have started mowing at (with a zero turn) 45 degrees to the old pattern. Now every time , I alternate the 45 degree and the lawn seems to like it. It is looking better that ever.

Sarge41

[barracudajoe]

Then again, they probably think you lawn is too plain without stripes. At least they are keeping it mowed and are not parking POS RV's in the yard.

[sid pileski]

Bf- I’m with you. I do not have striping rolled on my zero turn, it just cuts that way. I alternate the direction I mow every time I mow. I mow two acres. In the summer, I also mow probably every four to five days.
I like the way it looks for me.
I take pride in my home, and the lawn is part of that.

Sid

[Edwin Dirnbeck]

I like the stripes! My mower makes great stripes.

I have never seen an actual homeowner doing this. I think it must be to much trouble. Its allways " I have my lawn service guy do it" Edwin Dirnbeck

[garyhlucas]

Lawn = suburban desert

[The Artful Bodger]

I wish my lawn was big enough that I could mow a pattern on it!