Brown may be the new green, but it doesn't have to be that way. A Los Gatos company, Green Canary, is in the business of painting grass green. It's not a permanent fix for drought-ravaged lawns, but if a special event is coming up--say an outdoor wedding or a fancy party--a painted lawn will keep the drought police off your back.

Green Canary was founded in 2008 in response to the home foreclosure crisis. President Shawn Sahbari, who lives in Saratoga, was often hired by banks, homeowners' associations and real estate agents. "Usually the water department had cut off the home's water, and neighbors were upset about the way the yard looked," he said.

Now the drought is keeping Sahbari and his crew busy crisscrossing the Bay Area, painting grass at homes and businesses. He also recently painted a golf course in Southern California.

Last week found the Green Canary crew at Almaden Valley Athletic Club, where manager Jeff Griffith-Jones hopes to cut back on outdoor watering by as much as 90 percent.

"If it looks good and everybody's happy, we'll do other areas around the club," Griffith-Jones said.

Painting grass is like any other paint job in that there's a fair amount of prep work involved. Sahbari and his crew start by masking tree trunks, sidewalks and anything else that's in the way. Leaves and debris also need to be cleaned up. Then it's just a matter of using a spray wand to disperse what Sahbari describes as "a highly concentrated water-based pigment."


"We tested dozens of formulas, taking into account health and safety, aesthetics and economics. If it costs a million dollars, people wouldn't be interested in it," Sahbari said.

Painting prices vary and depend more on how much prep work is involved than the size of the area being painted. "How much stuff do I have to watch out for?" Sahbari asked. "If you do the masking yourself it's going to cost around 10 to 15 cents a square foot. If we do the masking it can cost between 35 and 55 cents a square foot. Sometimes raking and cleaning up dog poop can take several hours."

He said that on average "for a few hundred dollars, you can have green grass during the peak season."

The formula Green Canary uses is safe for children, pets and the environment, and it dries within an hour. "It won't fade or wash off or rub off," Sahbari said.

According to Sahbari, the application lasts longer if the grass being painted is already dead. "If the grass is dead and there aren't any people or dogs traipsing over it, the paint will last a long time," he said. "If the grass is living and being cut every four to six weeks, it could last anywhere from 60 to 90 days."

Back at the athletic club, Griffith-Jones said, "We love the painted grass. We've received many compliments on it already." He said the club now plans to paint all of its grass.

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