Do you want a beautiful and easy-to-maintain lawn? Admit it! You want to make those beautiful mow strips.
Your lawn will have those beautiful strips that will make your grass look like ballpark grass. Luckily, it will not be too hard to make your lawn with this Lawn Advisors Guide.
You’ll find a detailed guide for making a mow strip, its benefits, and a step-by-step guide on how to make a mow strip.
What is Mow Strip?
There are two types of mow strip; one serves as a second strip of edging that re-enforces the limit line between areas and prevents unintentional mowing from damaging the artificial grass.
And another one uses full-width rollers, mounted at the rear of the mower deck to support the weight of the mower, which also bends the grass blades downward in the direction of movement.
Due to the way sunlight reflects off the grass, light and dark lawn strips are created. Strips coming toward you will appear darker green; strips mowed away from you will appear lighter green.
The Benefits of Mow Strip
Here are some benefits of making a mow strip on your lawn:
– It saves you time and effort while mowing. Additionally, it benefits your grass and any nearby plants.
– It keeps the edges of your lawn from being compacted. In order to avoid compaction from foot traffic as you work in the garden, you can use them as a walkway between your lawn and the surrounding garden beds.
– It serves as an important barrier between your grass and any nearby plants that a mower can damage.
– They stop fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicides from running off into your lawn from your garden bed.
– It is a great tool for keeping aggressive plant and weed species from invading your lawn’s edges. Additionally, it stops strong turf grass from invading your tidy garden beds.
– It gives your backyard area an organized look. Get creative with the materials you use, creating a decorative or more uniform look.
How Do Mow Strips Appear?
The way mow strips appear as they do, is as simple as the way the light reflects off the grass blade. Blades curved away from you will appear lighter, and blades bent toward you will appear darker. Simply put, to achieve the striped look, you must bend the grass blades in opposite directions.
Mow your lawn in the direction you want the strips to face to do this. For instance, mow your lawn in the same way if you want them to run parallel to the curb. completing your first pass parallel to the curb, turning around, and mowing the next strips in the opposite way.
Tools Needed to Make Mow Strip
You should keep these products and materials in hand when making a mow strip:
- Waterproof work gloves
- Hand brush
- Sheet plastic or burlap fabric
- Flour, powdered chalk, or a long garden hose
- Coarse sand
- Yogurt cup or flexible container
- Garden hose
- Road-base gravel
- Brick or flat-sided stones
- Quick-setting concrete mix
How to Make Mow Strip?
A beautifully striped lawn can have enormous appeal. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to create a professional-looking mow strip:
1. Mark Your Mow Strip
By trailing a long garden hose over the border, you can easily define the edge of your lawn. Use flour or powdered chalk as an alternative to drawing a clear line.
2. Cut Your Edge
Dig down about five inches with a garden spade while following your hose or chalk line. It allows you to tweak your border before digging a trench.
3. Dig a Trench
Use your spade to break up and remove any sod along your mow strip once you are satisfied with the edge of your mow strip. In order to set your bricks or stone pieces, dig a trench that is six to eight inches deep and wide enough.
4. Fill the Base of the Trench
It is best to start by adding a one to two-inch layer of sand, then a one to two-inch layer of road-base gravel, to create a solid mow strip. This offers a solid base for laying your paving materials. Leave enough space so that your stones or bricks can be used to build a level surface.
5. Add Your Main Material
While putting concrete into a mow strip, adding bricks or stones might improve the area’s aesthetic appeal. Use stones that have at least one flat side, and add more sand or gravel to the bottom to level the surface. Give your stone pieces an inch between them, then fill in the spaces with gravel.
6. Add Concrete or Sand
Pour a quick-setting concrete mixture gently around your level stone pieces in a flexible container, such as a recycled yogurt cup. Use a hand brush to cover your bricks with sand to create a brick mow strip, making sure to fill in any gaps or cracks.
7. Wet Your Concrete
Saturate your concrete mix with a spray nozzle hose attachment, adding more dry concrete to even up any uneven surfaces. If you want to further embellish your mow strip, work quickly as a quick-setting concrete mix usually dries in about 15 minutes.
8. Embellish
Before the concrete sets, add any decorative items you want to show off in your mow strip. For a unique twist, consider including colored beach glass or sparkling stones.
9. Cover
Cover your concrete with a layer of burlap or sheet plastic to keep it wet while it sets. Before walking on your brand-new mow strip, wait two full days!
Watch this video below to know how to make mow strip.
Top Tips when Making Mow Strip
Here are a few tips you can follow when making mow strip:
– Mow the grass when it’s dry.
– Use a strimmer for tight corners or boxed areas.
– Regularly empty the clipping box to avoid the mower becoming clogged.
Mow Strip FAQ
To Wrap Up
Mow strip will help reduce lawn maintenance and tidy up planting beds. It also can improve your lawn aesthetically and keep grass from invading a flower border.
It will be so easy to make with this Lawn Advisors step-by-step guide.
Still have any questions about the mow strip? Please share them in Lawn Advisors comments box below.
