James Ritter, community manager for Leisure Village West in Manchester, New Jersey, was not an easy sell for ACE Power Equipment owner Sam Russo.

To be content in lawn maintenance today is to be putting your bid in for early retirement. Because as unique as the lawn maintenance business is, it has one thing in common with all other ventures. Change is inevitable, change is constant.

"I felt the ground begin to tremble and I realized too late that an ocean-going ship had caught me off guard. By the time I looked around it was right next to me. I could have reached out and touched it. It really gave me a fright. " So recounts Francie Keeler about one of her recent experiences working in the family business Dandy Lawn.

Steve Coffey is not your ordinary landscape contractor. Sure, he does installation and construction, and he maintains the majority of the projects his crews complete in the Atlanta area. Yet, in many ways, he stands head and shoulders above the competition. His company Scapes not only does quality work, it does much of it overlooking the streets below.

Dick Heim had finished with his day's work. His trailer was loaded and he was tired. Ahead he could see his driveway. The furthest thing from his mind was the accident about to occur. As he slowed to make the turn, a vehicle behind slammed into the rear of his maintenance trailer, driving Dick and his trailer into a tree.

Make no mistake about it: John Flucker is in it for the money.