Man finds drought solution, paints yard

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - At least one Indianapolis lawn is bright green, despite the dry weather and watering ban - but the homeowner hasn’t been watering his lawn.

Timothy Birdwell was fed up with his grass being brown. He and a friend came up with the idea to paint his lawn.

Now, when you drive down the street, his lawn appears as an oasis of green, a reminder of rainy days gone by in an otherwise dry brown southeast side Indianapolis landscape.

"It's just nice to know that people have an option. You don't have to look at that," said Birdwell, owner of Imperial Painting.

When he looked at his long-dormant lawn, he thought, "There must be a paint for that."

He found out there is - sort of.

"It actually is a latex product. I wouldn't necessarily call it a paint. More of a field striping kind of a product," he said.

It’s the kind of product they use on football fields. Which means it’s made for lawns, Birdwell said. And if watering bans are lifted, residents with lawns painted with the product can water it without fear of problems. They can also cut it, and as the lawn grows, just like dyed hair, the color will slowly grow out.

"It's actually good for the grass,” Birdwell said. “It's a coating that will keep the grass from scorching."

And if you don't like one particular color of green, don't worry.

"You can match it to a shrub. You can match it to good grass that you have. You can match it to about anything," Birdwell said.

After the paint job, one of his neighbors, Brian Kessler thought Birdwell had paid for a new lawn.

"Well, I thought it was new sod. That's what I thought when I first saw it the other day. I thought maybe they put new sod down," Kessler said.

It's not sod, but a spray. Painting lawns isn't new. There are various products available to get the job done. But since it's so new locally, pricing is just being worked out.

Birdwell said, as he stood on his own painted front lawn: "This one would probably run you about $500-$600 to do this."

You can also do it yourself. But Kessler said he won't be doing it.

"No, no. That's just not quite my thing,” he said. "I figure I've got other things I can spend my money on."

If you do want to tackle it yourself, you can buy products online. It costs about $150 a gallon for enough to paint 2,000 to 4,000 square feet. The average American lawn, according to yahoo.com is about 8,700 square feet. So you'll need at least two gallons to get it done.

You'll also need a sprayer and patience. Birdwell said it took him about three hours to do his lawn - though he said he would be faster the more lawns he does. The color will last three to six months. 

"If it rains, the grass just grows,” Birdwell said. “At that point, you can go out there and touch it up if need be. You can have that kind of yard all year round with no water bill from watering your yard."

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