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The state’s punishing drought saw neighbors scorned and water-guzzling lawns ripped up. But turf-industry insiders say grass is making a comeback.

Yumi Wong adores the latest addition to her southern California home: a lush, emerald lawn.

“It just looks much nicer with all the green. It feels clean and peaceful,” she said on Tuesday, padding across the 2,800-sq-ft grass expanse. “I thought about artificial turf but I just wanted the real stuff back.”

It arrived last week, a boon for her two children, two dogs and tortoise, and fitted right into Rancho Cucamonga, a neighbourhood east of Los Angeles. “Here nobody on the street has got rid of grass,” said Wong, 36, a physician’s assistant. They did not do so because California’s great grass purge seems to have faltered. A punishing drought triggered mandatory water restrictions last year and seemingly turned lawns into an enemy of the state. Thousands were ripped up. Vigilantes “drought shamed” reprobates who maintained verdant lawns. The ideal was brown lawns, or no lawns.

Southland Sod Farms, a big turf supplier, saw orders plunge from a high of 500 a day to just 80. One customer requested a clandestine delivery to avoid shaming. Critics called the company an environmental vandal. A Facebook post compared it to the Nazis.

Now, however, Southland Sod Farms is delivering about a hundred lawns daily across Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego and is cautiously optimistic about the future. “This panic to drive lawns out – that only went so far,” said owner Jurgen Gramckow. “Deep down inside people appreciate the recreational and aesthetic value of lawns.”

He talked up grass’s environmental benefits – absorbing greenhouse gas, cooling air temperature, impeding soil erosion – and his clients’ conservation efforts.

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