Dead Grass Alternative

Written by Jim the Realtor

May 2, 2009

From today’s front page of the L.A. Times:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-spray-painted-grass2-2009may02,0,7272444,full.story

The Insta-Green crew arrived on Peppermint Drive in green caps and green shirts, carrying buckets of green paint.

Their mission?

Convert a long-dead lawn into a lush patch of grass worthy of any golf course or polo field.

Thanks to the city of Perris, David Milligan is raking in a different kind of green. Not long ago the town hired his company to treat an epidemic of dead lawns fronting its more than 1,100 foreclosed homes.

So far Milligan has painted about 20 lawns, charging between $400 and $700 each. After the right shade is selected, the paint is sprayed on dead grass and dirt, giving the illusion of a healthy lawn for three to four months. The paint, said Milligan, is green on more than one level. It’s made of natural, biodegradable ingredients.

After clearing the weeds, team member Brian Roberts armed himself with a long, narrow sprayer. As a sputtering pump churned a bucket of paint in the driveway, he went to work. The transformation was immediate. Inch by inch, foot by foot, brown scrub gave way to emerald-green grass. The lawn was still dead, but vibrantly so.

Roberts worked in the mortgage industry before business dried up.

“Maybe this is my way of giving back,” he said. “Maybe I put these people in this home. This may be some sort of hell for me.”

Milligan says lawn painting may be the ultimate green job. He even wonders if there’s a television show in it.  “I’m thinking, ‘Pimp My Lawn,’ ” he said. “You know how we could get something like that started?”

9 Comments

  1. The Blur

    There’s always a bull market somewhere

  2. arizonadude

    Way to go dude!

  3. worm

    Do the lawn in purple. It will make the 5 o’clock news hours and you will get a ton of publicity.

    Plus, I think it will take a good photo in purple.

  4. chrisanthemama

    “The lawn was still dead, but vibrantly so.”

    Kinda like our whole bubble-economy.

  5. Kwaping

    Yeah that’s a great quote. These companies are going to be HUGE when SoCal starts restricting water usage in the near future. I’m trying to convince my wife right now that we should paint our lawn.

    Thanks for the tip, Jim!

  6. JAP

    What happens when it gets rained on?

  7. Woodrow

    I applaud the foresight, but LOL at “Maybe this is my way of giving back”.

    Nothing wrong with being a capitalist Milligan. No need to insult our intelligence by insinuating that your money making endeavor is some type of charity.

  8. David Milligan

    Now that you have read the story and published I thank you for both the positive and negative comments.

    In the event you should consider a service such as this I will be pleased to assist.

    You can find us at the website noted.

    Thanks
    Dave.

    Oh, and purple grass, no need we made ABC nightline two weeks ago with green only.

    But I do like the idea and have been looking at different colors. for other applications

    Thanks.

  9. wb

    For that kind of money every 4 months, wouldn’t it be cheaper just to plant real grass?

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