News Landscaping
Metro Vancouver property owners turn to painted lawns, artificial turf amid extreme drought

While most lawns in the Metro Vancouver area have turned brown due to the extreme drought being experienced in British Columbia and the implementation of municipal watering bans, some lawns have suddenly greened up.

This is the result of lawn painting – a practice that has become popular among some property owners. Tinted Grass Solutions is among the companies adding green pigment to brown lawns to enhance their look.

The company’s owner says the paint is both biodegradable and permanent, meaning it won’t wash away with the rain. The colour will disappear only when the grass has grown long enough to be mowed.

Other property owners have opted for artificial turf lawns. Turf Team Landscaping reports a 20 per cent increase in the demand for a synthetic lawn with a growing waiting list. The company’s owner says an average size artificial turf lawn saves about 50,000 litres of water annually.

Lawn watering has been prohibited since Aug. 4 in Metro Vancouver’s 23 local authority regions. The ban is in place until Oct. 15. Twenty-nine of the province’s 34 water basins have reached drought level 4 or 5, the latter being the worst level.