Can you spot why this garden shrub has gone viral?

A novice gardener has posted a hilarious side-by-side photo of a shrub outside a friend’s house, which has caused much confusion online.

The image, showing the scrub brown and dying on one side but turned green on the other, has left many people initially scratching their heads.

Take a closer look. Can you spot what happened?

“Friend of mine got a complaint from her HOA about a dying shrub on her property,” the poster wrote alongside the image on Reddit.

And while he included an image of paint, plenty of people didn’t get it at first.

“I feel so stupid. Just because it said ‘John Deere’ I instantly believed it to be some agricultural super growth product. Five mins into this thread I realised it was just green…friggin…paint,” one person admitted.

“I actually had to reread the label a couple of times to make sure I didn’t just read what I wanted to rather than what was actually on the label,” another said.

Once the penny dropped, that the man had simply painted the scrub, most people thought the nifty ‘trick’ was hilarious.

“For some reason I can’t stop laughing. Just the thought of them not realising for so long and the moment when they finally find out,” was one comment.

“This is my kind of gardening,” another revealed.

There were of course plenty of green thumbs, who suggested genuine ways to fix the problem.

“Easy fix with some granular lime! A light sprinkle should do it, no need to cover the ground,” was one suggestion.

“Easy fix would be planting something that likes the native soil,” another added.

“You could probably do a pH test to be sure, sprinkle some granular lime, and $10 later have the trees you want,” was another comment.

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