While store bought lawn paint is great and we recommend buying it in order to get the best results, it’s also somewhat expensive. For that reason many people decide to make their own homemade grass dye with food coloring and a few other ingredients. You can also really customize things if you make your own lawn dye. For example, you can make all sorts of colors other than green like blue or pink if you want.
What is Grass Paint Made Out Of?
According to EnviroColor (a leading grass paint brand), their grass paints are made out of crushed kaolin (a soft natural stone) combined with some sort of natural pigment for the green color. Homemade grass paint follows a similar recipe but instead it utilizes ingredients that you can easily find at home or at a local store. All you need are the following ingredients to make homemade grass paint:
– Epsom salt
– Liquid food coloring in your color preference
– Lawn fertilizer
– A large bucket
How to Make Homemade Lawn Paint
The amount of paint that you are looking to make will determine how much of each ingredient that you should use, but the ratios will be the same regardless. Assuming you are painting an average sized lawn, start by putting one pound of liquid lawn fertilizer into a big bucket. Once you’ve done that all you need to do is add in four pounds of epsom salt and a fourth of a cup of green liquid food coloring to the liquid lawn fertilizer. Make sure to throughly stir the mixture as you put in each ingredient to ensure that is properly combined.
How to Dye Grass Blue or Pink
If you want to dye your grass another color like blue or pink all you need to do is use a food coloring that matches your target color.
Will Food Coloring Kill Grass?
No, food coloring is non-toxic and of course edible. It doesn’t hurt plants including grass at all.
What You Should Be Aware of Before Using Homemade Grass Dye
Keep in mind that this grass dye has fertilizer and magnesium from the Epsom salt. While these ingredients are good for lawns when added at the right time and at the right dosage, they can cause your grass to burn or become damaged in some other way in excess. Hot summer conditions can even make it even more likely that these ingredients will damage your lawn so be careful. In order to ensure that you don’t damage your lawn and that you get a realistic looking lawn as your end result, we recommend just buying a professionally made grass paint.