Transforming Lives and Landscapes – One Yard at a Time
Tree Trust is celebrating 20 years of Landscape Services! Launched in 2004, Tree Trust Landscape Services is a social enterprise that supports our Career Pathways and Community Forestry initiatives through earned income and project collaboration.
The Landscape Services team includes ISA-certified arborists and construction and lawn/snow care teams. Serving commercial, public, and residential clients, they specialize in snow removal, tree services, lawn care, landscape construction, and accessibility ramps. Guided by our mission, Landscape Services staff model Tree Trust’s core values — Professional, Integrity, Commitment, Resilient, and Stewardship — on job sites across the Twin Cities metro area.
Planting the Seeds of a Social Enterprise
Landscape Services was the proposed solution to several challenges and opportunities that existed at the time for the organization. In addition to expanding technical capabilities, growing a new customer base, and creating enthusiasm around a new venture, it fulfilled a need for greater financial self-sufficiency. Tree Trust’s former Operations Director, the late Dave Hawes, was the staff leader who championed the vision for the social enterprise and his commitment was a crucial component of its success. With the support of the Tree Trust Board of Directors and other generous donors for start-up capital, a newly formed team was off the ground and running, led by then Program Coordinator and now current Tree Trust CEO & Executive Director, Jared Smith.
In its first year, Landscape Services focused on residential lawncare and snow removal in addition to constructing access ramps for low-income seniors and people with disabilities. Over the following two decades, Landscape Services steadily expanded its focus areas, growing into a flourishing landscape contracting business with an impressive array of professional services, staffed by industry professionals.
Guided by Core Values
If you ask our Landscape Services team what truly sets them apart from other tree care and landscaping companies beyond exceptional customer service and industry-leading quality, their response is unanimous: the mission! Landscape Construction Supervisor Sean Petteway loves to say that he transforms lives and landscapes, one yard at a time. Landscape Services client Sue was pleased with the professionalism of our team. She said, “I was amazed at the professionalism of the crew. They were very polite; worked very effectively together. They were informative and answered my questions completely.”
Bjorn Hawes, Landscape Services Business Operations Manager speaks to the resiliency of his team. “This idea of resiliency is so significant to the culture, of any workplace. Just the basic ways that we problem solve, push through, [and] do not just quit.” General Manager Jeff Voshell provides an example of working through inclement weather to get a job done: “We were having to use sledgehammers to knock ice off the machine to keep it running … and I don’t recall there being a lot of complaining.”
Community Collaboration
Recently, Landscape Services joined forces with community volunteers and the nonprofit Heart of America to revitalize the outdoor space at La Creche Early Childhood Education Center in North Minneapolis. At the final project reveal, children jumped with joy, leaping from log to log and running to explore each element in their new nature-based play space. Jeff Voshel commented on the satisfaction he felt watching the impact of the transformed space that he helped create: “Every single day since the project has been done, the kids have benefited from it. It was successful and educational and will stand the test of time.”
Begun in 2022, another important collaborative endeavor is nearing completion. The City of Roseville contracted with Tree Trust to manage the city’s 1,152 ash trees on public property, by removing dead or infested ash trees and replanting a diverse variety of trees. Landscape Services led the removal of ash trees, working with Career Pathways, Community Forestry, and community volunteers to replant a diverse variety of trees along city boulevards to promote a thriving urban forest.
During the project, Landscape Services donated select ash logs to Roseville Area High School’s Career and Technical Education Program. High school students are learning how to mill logs into usable lumber for class projects.
Growing a Sustainable Legacy
As we celebrate 20 years of Landscape Services, we look back with gratitude and to the future with excitement. We honor the legacy of Tree Trust’s former Operations Director, Dave Hawes, who dedicated his career to transforming lives and landscapes, and helped launch Landscape Services. Dave inspired many, including Jared Smith, who is currently leading Tree Trust towards a greener, more sustainable future. Landscape Services continues growing with Dave’s son, Bjorn Hawes, at the helm.
Entering its third decade, Landscape Services is an innovative idea that has delivered on the original objectives and surpassed expectations. As a flourishing social enterprise, it is integral to the ongoing fulfillment of Tree Trust’s mission, and we expect it will continue to have transformative impact on the lives and landscapes of our community in the years ahead.
