Landscapers welcome rain - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

The recent rain has been a welcome site for landscapers who have been hurting this summer.

One business owner hopes the rain will help keep his business going.

The ongoing drought has done more than turned lawns brown, it has dried up business for precision cut lawn service.

Owner Caleb Harbert says after a gangbuster spring, the summer has been nothing short of brutal.

"At the worst mowing wise we were at 12 1/2 percent of what we normally do a week and landscaping was pretty much in the tank," said Harbert.

He was forced to lay off five workers when the phones stopped ringing.

Then, finally, the rain started to fall, "Oh when it started I was like yeah you should have saw it. I was more excited than anything."

Excited because they could finally get back to work.

"This week we will do about 37 and a half percent worth of lawns so that's about 30 lawns next week we will probably do about 50-60 lawns then if this weather keeps up we will be doing probably every lawn like normal," says Harbert.

While some lawns are already bouncing back others will need to be re seeded but that's actually good for business.

Harbert explains, "We can't manipulate the weather very well. If nothing else we have leaves and leaves are a big boost in revenue and time and then on top of that aeration, seeding."

While the weather is still in charge of how their business grows, at least for now, the sunshine is on their side.

Harbert plans to re-hire at least one employee this week. If more rain falls, he hopes to be back at full staff, by fall.