Tom Crespin of Harmony Outdoor Brands shares his experience painting sod with Geoponics’ Endurant turf colorants
Just as people often pick out the reddest apple, people prefer the greenest grass. Painting sod using Endurant is keeping grass green as ever, offering benefits to growers, stores and property owners.
Endurant turf colorants and Harmony Outdoor Brands are providing the greenest sod grass for lawns across the U.S.
People are tending to their lawns, gardens and homes more than ever, said Tom Crespin of Harmony Outdoor Brands, which is the #1 supplier of retail sod grasses in North America.
Crespin has been in the sod industry for 10 years and agriculture for 40 years. Painting sod hasn’t always been popular or effective due to faulty brands, he said. Finding Endurant several years ago was key to making the practice of painting sod an all-around win economically, agronomically and environmentally.
Crespin works with sod farmers across the U.S. to grow the best possible sod for large box stores, like Home Depot and Lowe’s, among others.
“If the sod is even slightly yellowed, they won’t buy it,” said Crespin.
Even healthy sod, albeit off-colored, may go unused, letting acres of sod go to waste.
Painting Sod with Endurant: The Grass Is Greener Than the Other Side
By adding the non-toxic Endurant turf colorant to the turf, Harmony Outdoor Brands, their independent farmers, construction workers and stores are all benefiting by preventing waste, increasing profits and providing customers with the product they most desire.
Harmony and its supply farmers have been using Endurant for several years now, and the decision to do so came with a lot of consideration.
“It’s hard to get farmers to try something new. Farmers know better – and in a lot of cases they do,” said Crespin.
“For farmers who have used paint in the past, they were a little skeptical to try Endurant at first,” said Crespin.
What they came to see was that Endurant wasn’t like the other colorant brands.
“Past paints we used, I wasn’t too keen on them. As the plant dried, the paint separated. But this product remains true,” said Crespin.
The color is natural and it lasts, he added.
That’s critical to increasing sales for Harmony, for stores and for farmers.
“Because if it gets chlorotic, or even slightly yellow looking, people have a tendency not to buy it. They will always pick up the greener grass,” said Crespin.
Endurant, he noticed, helped to increase naturally occurring chlorophyll by warming the grass as it grew from dormancy and thus leading to earlier spring time greening in addition to the colorant.
“It also provides a summer time green more of the year,” said Crespin.
By using Endurant for painting sod, the turfgrass sales season is able to start earlier in March and is extended by about two months, he added.
“Stores love the additional sales. If people are buying sod, they’re buying lots of other products — sprinklers, fertilizer, hoses,” Crespin said.
Endurant turf colorant provided a significant boost to the economics, agronomics and environmentally friendly aspects of growing and selling sod.
Many of Harmony Brand farmers are using Endurant turf colorants now on their St Augustine, Bermuda and Zoysia grasses.
“It’s more than paid for itself,” said Crespin. “They spend a penny, but they’re getting much more than that back,” he added.
“This is one of those innovations that helps not just with visual appeal, it helps the farmers,” said Crespin.
“They are looking for any little edge they can get. They can harvest a second time as they get the sod out a little sooner.”
The icing on the proverbial cake is exceptional customer service with Geoponics, the makers of Endurant turf colorant, said Crespin.
“For anyone thinking of using this, get ready for service. Geoponics will give you all the tips you need and will help with any questions you might have about using Endurant. The paint looks great on the sod. It’s been a huge advantage,” he said.
