Broken Secrets

How Ballparks Stripe Their Grass

April 29, 2010 at 12:01 am Chad Upton 3 comments

In North America, professional baseball fields are the highest form of manicured lawns. Elsewhere, professional football pitches and cricket fields are admired.

Achieving the striped affect is pretty straight forward. The grass appears lighter and darker because the blades of grass are bent in opposite directions. The lighter looking grass reflects more light because of the angle of its blades and the darker ones reflect less light because of their angle.

To bend grass in opposite directions, start by cutting the lawn in opposite directions. The back and forth method is the simplest example.

Most people cut their lawn like that anyway, but the stripes aren’t as dramatic as the professional fields. To improve the contrast, be sure to set your mower at its highest setting. Longer blades of grass bend better and will have a more dramatic look. In fact, longer grass makes for greener grass too — it protects the roots from drying out and turning yellow.

But, here’s the professional stripe trick, after cutting at least two different directions, roll the grass with a lawn roller. Roll the lawn in the same direction that you mowed, this bends the grass better, which intensifies the affect.

Lawn rollers can be bought or rented at many home and garden stores.

Broken Secrets | Written By: Chad Upton

Be a Fan on Facebook

Source: Scotts

Photo: pamhule (cc)

Entry filed under: Around The House, Demystified, ProTips. Tags: baseball, cut, field, football, grass, lawn, pattern, pitch, roll, soccer, strip, stripe.