Lawn Painting is all the Rage

Despite the nationwide heat wave, the grass really is greener in some neighborhoods in New York and New Jersey.

Homeowners with brown, dried-up lawns are turning to "lawn painting" to spruce up their yards.

Business is booming, according to Joe Perazzo, who launched his lawn painting company in New York's most suburban borough of Staten Island a few years ago, inspired by the tinting process used to color professional athletic fields. Other companies have sprung up in the region and elsewhere in the country.

"We've had a lot more calls and jobs in the past few weeks," said Perazzo, who added that this season's heat has been particularly hard on lawns due to a lack of rain.

For about 15 cents a square foot ($1.61 a square meter), or $150 for 1,000 square feet ($161.40 for 100 square meters), Perazzo will spray a plant-based, non-toxic turf dye on lawns or even dried-up shrubs and trees.

The biodegradable spray can last up until next spring's new growth if grass is truly desiccated, he said.

For lawns with a bit of life left in them, the paint will last for "two to three mows," he said.

Rich Pacailler of Howell, New Jersey, had his 1,500 square foot lawn sprayed this week.

"It gave me the green lawn I've been working for," he said. "I come home and see I've got the greenest lawn on the block."

He said it was very natural looking, "like new sod."  I guess we now know what "brown" can do for you.