“Sod it,” Say Californians, “we want our lawns back”.

A punishing drought in California and consequential water restrictions caused lawns to become an enemy of the state. Thousands of previously nurtured and beloved lawns were ripped up and replaced with gravel, slabs or fake grass.

People with lush lawns were being named and shamed with the new buzz term, “drought shaming”, which ranged from aerial photos of celebrities’ lawns to people tweeting photos of neighbours’ sprinklers.

Californian turf grower, Southland Sod Farms, saw his orders take a dramatic dive from 500 square metres a day to just 80. “One of my customers requested a clandestine delivery to avoid shaming, said Jurgen Gramckow, “my company was being criticised and called environmental vandals. A Facebook post compared us to the Nazis”.

During the turf farms hay day it farmed 1,800 acres but since 2008 with the recession, housing crisis and now the drought the farm has reduced in size to just 500 acres.

Then came a small turning point. In June: the State Water Resources Control Board relaxed last year’s requirement for a 25% cut in Californians’ overall urban water use after winter rains had partly replenished reservoirs and snowpack.

Some homeowners who had replaced lawns with drought-tolerant landscaping hated the results. Boring gravel with a smattering of succulents, yarrow and other plants. Often the plants died, giving way to weeds.

Another lawn alternative – artificial turf – lost some luster when CBS2 reported that LA’s department of water and power, which is tasked with punishing water wasters, watered fake grass at its substations. The reason? To wash out dog pee and excrement.

Subsequently Southland Sod Farms is now 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 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.

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.