I think you need to attach a striping roller.

Like this . . .

http://yardsngardens.stores.yahoo.net/pustlast.html

or, if you are more industrious . . .

http://www.koenigland.com/lawn_striper/

-Mike

You mean like this? Not a very good pic, but this is one of my daily cuts at work. Bowling alley style is the hardest to do, and I'm proud of my work. Anywho, enough about me. Stripping with a rotary mower is tough to do no matter what kind of roller contraption you buy. Golf courses and pro sports fields use reel mowers, both walk behind or Fairway mowing units like in the picture. Those stripes look narrow but that hole is 500 yards long and those stripes are 160 inches wide. The cutting units used have both a front and rear roller. Most sites that sell or explain lawn striping rollers for home use tell you to cut the lawn at least three inches tall to get a pronounced striping effect. It's actually the opposite. Anywhere where turf appearance equals money.....(golf courses, wimbledon, ball fields, etc) high end reel mowers are used.
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mpcart..do you have and use one of these? If so, do you think it does a better job than regular mowing?

nice stripes reelfanatic...what course is that? i'm a big time golfer nut...spent some time mow'n, rak'n, and cut'n cups myself.

Congrats on your project. I always have abysmal luck with overseeding as it seems like every time I do any significant amount of it, we have a downpour that washes it away. This last time was no different.

We've been pretty dry since June in our little area of Northern Indiana. Just 10 miles west of us has had more rain but we haven't been as fortunate. Luck of the draw the way the storms go by

I'd put off doing an area in one part of our yard until I got myself motivated this past Thursday. Two days later, like clockwork, SHAZAM! 4 inches of rain in one day. The next day, ZING! Over 5 inches of rain in one day. Bye-bye, seed.

I told my wife that next year I'll put some seed down in July or August to make sure the farmers' crops do better around here.:-) I also said to her that the Big Man's weather department has an alarm that goes off every time that guy with the beard in Mishawaka sows grass seed. "Get Mother Nature on the phone and tell her to dial up a monsoon, he's giving it another shot!"

I don't mean to hijack your thread, just thought you might like a little chuckle from my rain experience. I seriously have had experiences like this the last 7-8 years, to the point that I can joke about it now. I used to about tear what hair I have left out. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. :-)

Back to your subject, I thought that reel mowers were the primary method for doing the stripes. At least that's what I had read before.

Mike, I wasn't even aware there were "striping rollers". I've got plenty of 4" PVC around. If I'm feeling industrious one of these days I may rig one of those up. Thanks for the links!

No, I don't have one. I just know that you need a roller to do striping. Maybe I'll make one and give it a try.

-Mike

@GolfnBrian........ It's Montgomery Village Golf Club in Maryland. Raking Bunkers and Cutting Cups... The greatest job in the world. Mowing fairways for this course has been my retirement job for the last two years, and I highly recommend any turf fanatic to get a job at a Golf course. If I had started doing this 25 years ago, I would have never pursued my original career. I absolutely love it. The knowledge obtained, although anything but eco-friendly is invaluable for home lawn care.