Craig Hughes is a man on a mission. As grounds supervisor for Tracy Public Schols in Tracy, California, he is responsible for maintaining 17 school sites. His crews mow upwards of 230 acres of grass weekly, perform saftey inspections at playgrounds, prep athletic fields and overall maintain the school grounds.

When Laura Breeze and her family moved from New Zealand to Calgary in 1977, landscaping was the furthest thing from their minds. Laura was a nursery school teacher, and husband Rex worked as a building operator for a property management firm. When the firm's maintenance contractor failed to show up one week, Rex's boss asked if he knew someone who could mow the lawn. Laura volunteered, and she's been mowing ever since.

By most accounts Brian Larsen is a late bloomer in this industry. He left the forest business and a desk job at age 50, and purchased a tractor mowing company. Homeowner inquiries led him naturally to the landscaping industry where he now maintains three large residential locations, 20 to 25 smaller residences, three institutional sites, and four commercial properties.

The two diesel Walkers buzz in and out of the gum trees. Owen Reid's crews are precise with their turns, and they waste little time dumping the bark and grass clippings with their high-lift systems.

Imagine looking forward to work so much that you literally jump out of bed every morning. Patrick Keyes, owner of Camross Landscaping in Amityville, New York, does just that. He looks forward to interacting with customers, to the challenges associated with growing a business, and to providing a living for his family, something he couldn't have done if he had stayed home in Ireland.

Nestled along France's southwestern coast is the peaceful fishing village of Loctudy; peaceful, that is, until the European holiday season when the population swells from 3,800 to almost 12,000.