Where do you want to be seven years from now? Scott Hayward, owner of T & S Landscape, Chester, New Hampshire, asked himself that seven years ago and today he owns and operates a $1 million plus operation. Scott is the first to admit he hasn't done it by himself. He's had a lot of help, from employees, from the equipment they operate and from little things that just make landscape companies stand out.

When he moved to Las Vegas 20 years ago, a gravel road provided access to his home. Not anymore. His house, less than 10 minutes from the famous Strip, is now located on a main boulevard. The city has grown incrementally and so too have the huge hotels and casinos that fuel the growth engine. 

Brothers Dave and Peter Lucadano had a dream in 1985. They wanted to become the biggest and the best lawn maintenance company in the Tampa, Florida, area.

When Dan Fogerty asked the owners of a Bend, Oregon, apartment complex to bring lawn maintenance in house, he had no idea they would accept the idea. After all, the owners had always contracted out the maintenance and Dan had little experience mowing lawns and landscaping. In his proposal, he would take over exterior maintenance that included upkeep of 200,000 square feet of turf and a variety of trees, shrubs and flowers.

The routine is the same every Monday morning. Mark Fagnant and Leroy Collins line up their two Walker mowers. Then they peer down a one mile stretch that cuts through the center of Colonial Colony South. To the right and left of this road are more than 570 retirement homes, comprised of single and double-wide manufactured homes.

After mowing a residential property, Neil Deering, owner of TLC (Total Lawn Care, lnc.), Kalispell, Montana, looks back at the lawn. He drives away slowly, his smile seems to soak in the manicured property with its signature Walker cut.