Many California home-owners are suffering through a major drought, which is driving them to take drastic measures to salvage their dying lawns.
According to Yahoo News , residents of California are being forced to conserve water during a record-breaking period of low rainfall. Those who fail to conserve water are being fined. The dry conditions have given rise to an unusual method of keeping the lawns looking lush and green. People are spray-painting them.
The New York Times reported that the full spray-paint treatment will cost you about $300. It involves a tank of paint, a tube, and a spray nozzle similar to a pesticide wand. The spray-paint is applied in several coats across the entire area of dead grass to turn dry, brown leaves into vibrant green foliage.
Drew McClellan thought to spray paint lawns when one of his friends complained about his dead brown grass. McClellan remembered his childhood living in Florida, seeing the turf of golf courses being spray-painted an artificial green. McClellan did a quick online search to ensure nobody else was making money spray-painting lawns, then he started the business. Since then, the lawn spray-painting has found incredible success, getting more clients than McClellan can handle.
“No matter how weird people might think it is, everyone is getting to the point of considering something drastic,” McClellan said.
According to CBS San Francisco, other lawn spray-painters have now sprung up in California, including Kerry McCoy who also responded to the steep fines against water-wasting by providing homeowners with an alternative.
“As soon as the water sanctions hit, and as soon as people find their water bills rising, they’re looking for ways to cut back on their expenses, and that’s when they start calling,” said McCoy.
As a result of the lawn spray-painting craze, the sales of “all-natural, non-toxic and biodegradable grass and mulch paint” have tripled this year, according to LawnLift. And with good reason; the governor of California Jerry Brown recently passed an executive order restricting the watering of “ornamental landscape or turf” to only two days per week, with a penalty fine of up to $500. At that rate, the spray-painted lawn treatment is well worth the cost.
For more on the drought in California and its affect on lawns, check out The Inquisitr’s report on the “ Cash In Your Lawns ” program, which allows homeowners to sell sections of their green grass and replace them with herbs, lavender, pebbles and other drought-friendly materials.
[Images courtesy of Yahoo ]
