I was thinking is it really necessary to alternate you cutting pattern if you have a reel mower? I have heard that if you go the same way every time you mow, especially with bermuda, that it will help put that stripe in the lawn. Just curious to hear what everyone thinks???

Hi Mightyquinn,

I grow a northern grass lawn. But I normally alternate because I like the way it looks (like the stripes in a ballpark).

I've been told that alternating helps prevents ruts in your lawn. But I'm not sure that would really be a problem with a reel mower (as I imagine the typical non-powered type reel mower weighs less than 20 pounds.

Well, I am talking about with a powered reel mower, but I don't think the wheels on them would create ruts since they seem to be wider than the typical rotary mower. I was just wondering since the reel cuts different than the rotary mower does. I have read that since bermuda doesn't stripe as well as northern grasses do, it helps to mow in the same direction to help it "learn" to stripe better. Just wondering.

They might not create ruts in the soil but the appearance might be similar to ruts. One of my neighbors has marks in her St Augustine lawn from the mower wheels. It looks like ruts but I think it is just weakness in the grass from the repeated weight of the mower always running in the same place.

Try it and see what results you get.

Thanks for your observation David, I just might try that and see how it goes this summer.