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

[JRouche]

Out here in the "Desert-Southwest" xeriscape is the answer. BUT most want a small patch of green to break the monotony so a few square ft. of Buffalo Grass that need mowed every couple weeks by hand do the trick. :-)
...lew...

That Lew is exactly what I have . Minuse some things.
If I were to take a picture of my front yard now or tomarrow it would be an over grown patch of blue grass..

I have a very small spit of lawn. Bunch of plam trees though.. (desert)

My only grass is getting smaller. Hey, its the suburbs and water issuues.. JR

[rmcphearson]

I think this is a throwback to the past. In the 1950's and 60' power reel mowers used a set of rollers to keep the blades at the proper height. A wheel at each rear corner would have allowed the blades to scalp a high spot in the middle. The result was that the rollers laid down the grass behind the reel and formed a stripe. Rollers were carried forward to the rotary mowers for several years. I had 2 different Bolens tractor mowers that used a full side to side set of rollers on their mower decks.

Even today professional baseball fields are mowed with machines that leave the striped pattern. For quite a few years Toro offered kits for many of their professional and home owner models to duplicate the stripes.

Yes, and the tacky stripes on golf courses has fallen out of favorite recently because someone realized that the stripes draw one’s attention to the stripes instead of the beautiful surroundings/landscapes. Augusta National is a good example. It looked like candy land years ago, made me want to puke. Now they deliberately mow so there are no stripes at all.

I have a tiny, manicured lawn of 100 sq ft. My 4year old daughter loves playing in it so much it’s amazing what a great investment it was.

[Richard P Wilson]

Moxiedad2001: Some of those straight rows in farmland are probably due to steering-by-satellite.

Sarge41

Some of them might be these days, but for a lot of years over here in the UK, its been a matter of pride among farmers to plough exactly straight and even furrows, controlled only by eye and skill. Anyone who doesn't is ridiculed! There are annual ploughing competitions for ditterent classes such as horse ploughing, vintage, trailed ploughs and modern which are judged on straightness and if all the vegetation has been buried. My neighbour has a shelf full of silver cups he's won in these competitions, with an old Allis Chalmers tractor.

[Black Forest]

Moxiedad2001: Some of those straight rows in farmland are probably due to steering-by-satellite.

Sarge41

I knew a horse trainer that came from a big farming family in Iowa. When I would drag his riding arena with the tractor and drag he would drag it again after I finished because I didn't make the marks left in the ground from the drag straight and parallel enough for his liking. The first time he did it I asked him why he dragged the arena again. He laughed and said it was a farming thing. The rows have to be straight and parallel!

[sarge41]

"It brings order to a chaotic world in some small way."

Yes, what self-respecting home shop machinist would object to order, regularity, and precision? I don't cut my grass that way, but if I had a zero-turn mower I probably would. You know, even farmers in some of the more prosperous parts of the country are very careful about the straightness of their rows and the neatness of their fence lines, lest they catch some unwanted ribbing in the local cafe during slow times. Kim

Moxiedad2001: Some of those straight rows in farmland are probably due to steering-by-satellite.

Sarge41

[projectnut]

Really need this!?

I think this is a throwback to the past. In the 1950's and 60' power reel mowers used a set of rollers to keep the blades at the proper height. A wheel at each rear corner would have allowed the blades to scalp a high spot in the middle. The result was that the rollers laid down the grass behind the reel and formed a stripe. Rollers were carried forward to the rotary mowers for several years. I had 2 different Bolens tractor mowers that used a full side to side set of rollers on their mower decks.

Even today professional baseball fields are mowed with machines that leave the striped pattern. For quite a few years Toro offered kits for many of their professional and home owner models to duplicate the stripes.

[JRouche]

It is a Grass cunumdrum really. Those with Grass and those without...

Pretty sad. I grew up with a lawn back East. Come to Ca. and it s a desert. No grass unless you fource it. And they do.

I dont have a fancy lawn with all the acutrimounts.. Just two small 12x12 patches. I have to have some sort of grass out front. If even to sit down . I have no Grass, my neighbor might? JR

[DennisCA]

Yes but we're in 2021 now, it's overdue if anything, not even flying cars with personal fusion reactors yet. It's a disgrace.

[tom_d]

**** lawns. I got a robot to handle that for me.

In days past robot was spelled "teenager"

[The Metal Butcher]

I think it looks pretty good. Sue me.

That said, I've been doing well this year to keep the lawn police from writing angry letters.

[Dan_the_Chemist]

When I lived in the UK I had the privilege to teach at a small college. There were several other small colleges in the same town, and they all prided themselves on having really good stripes. While I learned many things at the school, I didn't learn to love stripes. I mow my own yard with a bush hog...

[J Tiers]

Are you complaining about grumpy old men? The possibilities of recursion are endless.....

The whole thing seems to fall squarely under the heading of "First World Problems".

[reggie_obe]

Wow, your neighbors mow their lawns. I wish mine did.

Move to a gated community.
Not maintaining a manicured lawn probably earns the homeowner a death sentence or at least a public flogging.

[sid pileski]

Doozer- in my case, I can’t agree with your generalized physiological assessment.

Sid.

[Doozer]

I think lawn stripes are great.
They are an indicator of a person that has mis-placed priorities, or priorities far off the beaten path.
It is a warning sign, that in any dealings with that person, to proceed with caution,
as they may be more likely to make decisions or take actions based on emotion rather than logic.
Emotional decisions are unpredictable.
Same goes with the saggy pants crowd... mis-placed priorities, or priorities far off the beaten path.
Proceed with caution.

--Doozer