The Level Green Culture Blog

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

When robots take over the world in the movies, it’s kind of fun to watch, right?

But when robot mowers start showing up at landscaping companies, even a large popcorn might not keep you from worrying.

Will robot mowers take away your job?

Rosvin Lara has a lot going on as a busy landscaping operations manager, from managing schedules to coordinating equipment and materials to making sure every job is done right.
But he prioritizes people.

Looking for a good job? Come talk to us. We need you!

The landscaping industry has been struggling with a labor shortage for the past few years, and lately, it’s even more of a struggle to find good workers.

Companies like Level Green Landscaping are competing with lots of other employers looking for good workers, says Doug Delano, co-founder and managing partner at Level Green.

“We hired a full-time recruiter, but we’re still having issues,” he says. “Everybody’s in the same boat. Everybody’s looking for people.”

Customers, please be patient with us.

“We’re not getting things done as quickly,” Delano says. “We’re getting grass cut, but you may not get your mulch as quickly. It’s taking longer to get to enhancements.”

Meanwhile, if you know a hard worker looking for a good job, send them our way.

Pay is around $15/hr, with no experience necessary.

“We’re averaging 50-55 hours a week right now, so you can make decent money at $15 an hour, plus overtime,” Delano says. “We’re a growing company, so we have a significant amount of work.”

Other perks:

Should you be in the landscaping business?

Maybe you grow the best wisteria on the block, you name your garden tools, and you’re an organized dynamo. Oh, and you have a degree in landscape management.

You’re a natural, right?

Larry Leon has some questions for you that might be eye opening.

Sometimes the path to your perfect place isn’t straight, like the crisp edge of a newly laid patio, but curving, like a meandering garden path.

Jenna Visco thought she wanted to be a chemist. Then she was pretty sure she wanted to be a landscape designer.

Nope and nope.

Is it a big deal that Dave Briggs has worked at Level Green Landscaping for 15 years?

Depends on who you ask.

Around here, it’s a pretty big deal. Dave was the first account manager to come on board, back in 2005 when just a handful of employees worked here.

But it’s all a matter of perspective, Dave says. His twin brother, Tom, has worked at the same electrical company for 35 years.

Leave it to your twin brother to show you up.

As a landscaping company, Level Green Landscaping does a lot of community outreach that has to do with digging in the dirt, from helping school kids plant vegetables to teaching the community how to create rain gardens.

But our commitment to diversity means we also think outside the planter box.

First things first: yes, that’s a photo of Marcene with famous gymnast Gabby Douglas, two-time gold medalist at the 2012 Olympic Summer Games.

Champions hang out together. 

When Marcene was 10, she was the gymnastics floor exercise champion for the whole state of Maryland.

She spent hours practicing in the gym four nights a week and all day on Saturdays.

“It gave me discipline and focus that I’ve used my whole life,” she says.

When Brian Outten interviewed for a job as shop manager at Level Green Landscaping, co-owner Bill Hardy told him he wouldn’t have to worry about Brian showing up late for work.

Brian served in the U.S. Army, where being punctual is a way of life.

That's just one of the traits Brian brings to his landscaping work, as a military veteran. 

When Brian Outten joined the U.S. Army out of high school, he learned he’d be a 63 Bravo, a light wheel mechanic, changing oil and replacing tires on military vehicles.