The Level Green Culture Blog

Behind the scenes and insider information for landscaping careers and green industry jobs.

If you have to add another task to your already stuffed to-do list, can you find a blank spot?

Here at Level Green Landscaping, we have a lot in common with dogs.

We love big expanses of green grass.

Sometimes, our feet are muddy. We appreciate the scent of open water and scuffling through crisp fall leaves.

We're loyal. We're friendly. We love a good ball chase.

It's probably why a lot of us have dogs. Sometimes they even tag along with us to work, or keep us company in the truck on the way to Home Depot.

We love cats, too, and we're even partial to geckos.

Meet the pets of Level Green Landscaping.

While we love being at work, it's great to come home to these loyal, lovable friends.

Lindsay Tewell grew up in Calvert County, Md. as a tomboy, exploring the woods and splashing in streams.

She actually liked mowing her parents' lawn. Nature hikes renew her.

So after a stint working as a waitress, it makes sense that she made her way to a career in landscaping.

“My favorite thing is to be outside,” says Lindsay, a supervisor at Level Green Landscaping.

Lindsay has been working in landscaping for about five years, mostly at small companies. She worked her way up, learning new skills, mastering more complicated equipment, taking on more responsibility.

The Level Green story starts like a lot of great stories — with an intriguing idea and a conversation over lunch.

In this case, lunch was at Red Lobster. But Bill Hardy and Doug Delano could have been eating peanut butter sandwiches in a truck and still come to the same conclusion: they should start a landscaping company together.

The two friends had worked together for years at a Maryland landscaping company. Doug started out as a laborer and truck driver and worked his way up to supervisor, project manager, area manager and branch manager.

Bill started as assistant supervisor and moved on to be a supervisor, account manager and branch manager.

When Doug decided to start his own business, he immediately thought of Bill as the perfect business partner.

From the beginning, the pair had strong values and high standards.

Weeds fear Juan Olivar.

Growing up in El Salvador, he tended crops on his dad's property, always on the lookout for weeds.

When he came to the United States in 1983, he picked produce in California, knowing the best onions, tomatoes and peppers came from weed-free beds. He must have pulled thousands of weeds.

And now, as operations manager at Level Green landscaping, weeds don’t stand a chance.

Unhappy at work?

Too stressed out?

Need a change?

Not sure where to turn after serving in the military?

It could be a perfect mid-career change.How about landscaping?

Here’s why.

If you want to work with your hands, make good money and see tangible results of your hard work, head for a job in landscaping or construction.

But which field is right for you?

Paul Weaver, construction branch manager at Level Green Landscaping, talks about the pros and cons of each.

Eric Bross is big on teamwork. He knows what can happen when everybody works together.

When Margaret Hoffman's kids were in elementary school, their teachers told them their mom would make a great teacher.

A teacher? Hoffman laughed it off.

She was an urban forestry expert. A native plant lover. A landscape designer.

“I thought there was no way I had the patience to be a teacher,” she says.

Those grade school teachers were pretty smart.

These days, Hoffman is assistant professor of landscape contracting at Pennsylvania State University.

And she loves it.

People who work at Level Green Landscaping often talk about the family atmosphere at work.

But the fact is, they have real families at home. And no matter how great the atmosphere is at work, you want to spend time with your actual family.

At Level Green, we know time away from work is as important as work.