Oklahoma Lawn Company Adds Grass Painting Service
Nick Jones owned and operated a pest control and lawn care business in a rural part of Oklahoma for years. Less then five years ago though, he found a different niche that brought him out of the confines of Perkins, Oklahoma and into partnering with other lawn maintenance businesses to provide a new service—grass painting, in larger nearby cities.
He grew his business first by adding lawn painting as an offering to his clients, and now expanding the business further by offering painting as a consultant or contractor for other lawn and maintenance companies. By contracting with Jones, these companies find they can avoid the need for new equipment and still expand their offerings.
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A dormant lawn painted in Oklahoma using Endurant Turf Colorant.[/caption]
Painting Grass Makes News: Putting Endurant Turf Colorants to the Test
Painting grass. “That still sounds bazaar,” said Jones. But in the past two years, people have become increasingly aware of the benefits so the oddity isn’t so off-putting, he added.
When people see it, they also have an interest, sometimes before they’re even aware of the benefits.
“They’ll say, ‘I know you painted that yard, can you come look at my house?’ Or another one I get is someone ordered paint online and it didn’t look the way the online ad showed it,” said Jones. “That’s because it wasn’t an Endurant product,” he added.
Even hiring helpers, he hears, “Why would you paint grass?” They see it and then they get it, said Jones.
“First time I saw it was not a commercial but news about water restrictions in California and in Texas,” recalled Jones. “I thought, that’s interesting and a viable solution for overseeding rye.”
Then, Jones got online and searched for turf paint options.
“Like 10 names came up, so I ordered 10 of those. I have about a two-acre backyard and set up a test lot for each one. I painted and watched it through the winter,” said Jones.
A clear winner was revealed among the test plots, he said.
“Everybody who came by was like, ‘that’s what I want my turf to look like,’” relayed Jones.
So rather than spending a lot of time researching the companies, he tested them for himself.
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Curb appeal is made easy with Endurant turf colorant applied by Nick Jones in Oklahoma.[/caption]
Expanding the Lawn Care Business to Include Landscape Colorants
It took some further testing to learn how to profit from it in a way that differed somewhat from the model of the lawn care business, which for the most part is about the speed in which the landscapers can complete a property. Colorant was about expertise and the savings came in forms such as water, seed and chemicals. The clients were a niche market.
“The first year was basically a learning year,” Jones said.
This encouraged other businesses to contract Jones, who had all the equipment and the operation down to a science rather than recreating all those efforts themselves, he said.
“It’s one thing to put it down and for it to look good. Phase two was to put it down in a way that you could repeat it for a profit in multiple yards,” said Jones.
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Adding a pop of color to grass using Endurant turf colorant brings growing business to lawn service professional Nick Jones.[/caption]
Tips and Tricks: Benefits of Endurant Turf Colorant
In that year he learned the best equipment for various site conditions;
different shades of Endurant ideal for particular species of grass and yards; how clean the property needs to be; and other tips and tricks for ideal results accomplished efficiently.
He outgrew Perkins. The past two years, Jones has stretched his business working with other landscapers in Oklahoma City and Tulsa.
“With Endurant, we have a guaranteed look at every job. In Oklahoma, with weather being what it is, people are spending a lot of money on overseed and they don’t know how it’s going to look,” said Jones. “A lot of times that’s poor,” he added.
He uses Endurant to take the guesswork out of the equation.
“You know what you’re going to get with painting. That’s kind of the number one thing with it,” said Jones.
The species of grass leads not to just desiring a specific shade of Endurant, but also to applications benefits.
“Overseed over dormant Bermuda grass is dependent on rain and temperature being right,” said Jones
However, with Fescue, which often maintains some color, the look is different.
“You can just go over the top of Fesuce and it looks like a million bucks. You can save on water. You never deprive the plant of nutrients, but you can cut back a bit,” he said
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Home owners and real estate professionals enjoy the benefits of Endurant turf colorant applied to dormant turf as an extra lawn service in Oklahoma.[/caption]
Sports Fields & Businesses: Effects of Covid 19
In addition to home lawns, properties for sale gain curb appeal, while businesses and athletic fields also benefit from the colorant.
“If you have two businesses say on opposite corners, across from one another, such as two gas stations, people will go to the one with the better looking lawn,” said Jones.
“If your gas station is green and the neighbor’s is brown, people are naturally drawn to the green,” said Jones.
That’s the same with a home lawn, property for sale or an athletic field.
Sports teams are at least as competitive. Softball and baseball fields are increasingly finding the benefits of colorants, often while at visiting another team’s well-maintained field.
“If you overseed, it’s really hard on coaches and managers to have it look good for the summer,” said Jones.
Due to Covid 19, baseball season started and then got shut down in spring 2020.
With uncertainty remaining into fall and another season on the horizon, athletic field management choices are likely to change.
“We don’t know if we want to put that much money and time into overseed and then the season is ended early again. Overseeding some and then painting is an option. Or paint it so you’re not out the time. It’s most cost effective. That way, if you lose the season, you don’t lose that time and investment,” said Jones.
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Painting grass pays off for the owner of home and commercial lawn service companies in Oklahoma.[/caption]
Tricks of the Trade & Professional Painting Equipment
- “The biggest thing is to talk to someone who has done it before you do it,” said Jones.
- Familiarity with the colors
- Knowledge of the area: “Bermuda looks different in Oklahoma than it does in South Carolina.”
- Each customer has a desired look and expectation
- Test your equipment
- Eventually, customization of equipment and process (Such as a walking boom and other things Jones built specifically for painting. Sprayers for smaller versus larger properties.)
- Edging wheel, particularly for residential and commercial to assist in keeping paint off concrete and other undesired areas near the grass.
- For a once a year application, when approaching winter dormancy, paint immediately following Thanksgiving just before people are hanging Christmas lights. This helps avoid having to move wires.
- For twice a year applications, a light coat can be applied in October when a loss of green begins and then a darker coat.
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Endurant colorant varieties. Check out the full line at TurfPaint.net with additional options in pigments, including Endurant TE, and a new hybrid paint and pigment, Endurant FLEX.[/caption]
A Professional’s Personal Take on Using All the Various Turf Colors
“I personally use Endurant FW (Fairway) on the fescue. A little of “Fairway” goes a long way on the Fescue,” said Jones. “TC on Bermuda really looks nice,” he added.
Jones learned to blend for optimizing results.
“That’s where understanding the colors comes in. The Fairway (FW) gets dark quick. I use a lot of Fairway (FW and TC concentrate,” said Jones.
He also uses a base coat of FW with a top of Premium applied at different rates. “To get it to pop.”
The different grasses have different looks and base shades at different stages of growth and dormancy. Bermuda goes dormant in a whiter shade while Zoysia when dormant has a little more yellow, so Premium often brings that to the desired green shade.
Different landscapers he works with use different mixes and processes to get their desired look.
“Some people just want green but not with a lot of attention,” he said. “It’s different strokes for different folks.”
Most importantly, Endurant doesn’t fade to blue like so many other brands, noted Jones.
Having worked with marking dyes, pigments and paints, Jones points out: “Marking dyes go away pretty quickly. Pigment will erode to a not natural color. Paints will last. What we’re working with here with Endurant lasts for the longest duration,” he said.
He’s seen other lawn companies try to duplicate the look without knowing the products or process.
“They’ll quadruple the amount of marking dye or pigment on the yard. Ten or even 30 days later, it may look competitive to ours. But a month or two later, our yard is till holding color,” said Jones.
