Karen Baxter and her late husband, Brent, had always been city folks. But they were longing for a more relaxing change of pace, not to mention a nice place to raise their five children. So they bought a home in the countryside of Hillsboro, Oregon, roughly 30 years ago. Along with that new home came a big, beautiful yard and an even bigger pasture.

Eliseo Mauricio, owner of Mauricio Lawn & Landscape Maintenance in Amarillo, Texas, learned the proper way to mow lawns at a young age. He helped out in his father’s lawn maintenance business for a whopping $40 a month. “As a kid, that seemed like a lot of money,” Eliseo relates.

Kory Knutz loves landscape maintenance. “I don’t have any desire for installation work,” he relates. “In fact, that’s even on my voicemail greeting. Maintenance is where it’s at for me. Maintenance is my sweet spot.”

Alex Cembalisty says he was never an A or B student in high school. “I just wanted to put on my boots and go have fun in the dirt,” he says. “I developed this passion for trees, plants and grass. I guess you can say I’ve always had a green thumb.”

Zeke Rhodes makes his living designing plumbing and HVAC systems, but the real living starts when he’s outside on his Walker Mower.