Worker Bee Landscaping & Lawn Care

Posted by Dustin Horton // April 24, 2018 // Local Business

Michael Farnsworth, owner of Worker Bee Landscaping and Lawn Care is ready to begin his fifth season as a self-employed landscaper. After spending 35 years in the printing and publishing industry, Farnsworth’s last employer went the way of many newspapers around the country and closed down.

“I needed something to do,” Farnsworth said. “I had to travel a bit for the newspaper and would often see lawn care people working outside mowing grass and mulching or planting, and was always a little envious because they looked tan and healthy, and weren’t locked to a desk.”

He bought some basic equipment on a limited budget in the Spring of 2014, and put an ad in the local pennysaver.

“The phone started to ring,” Farnsworth said. “I had about 20 steady lawn mowing customers my first season, and did some weeding, cleanup and mulching for customers.”

Most all those mowing customers he got his first season are still with him. He said he uses the same customer service skills he learned in 35 years with printing and publishing.

“Just like when I worked in my former career, I would do all I could to keep appointments, or call if running late, be pleasant and honest,” Farnsworth said. “That, I think is the key to building and keeping customers.”

Worker Bee Landscaping and Lawn Care has grown in size as a result. Its growth from the Source to present proves how important honesty and dedication are, especially in growing customers.

“I’m still a small business, and do most the work myself, except for the larger landscaping jobs, then I get some help.”

Farnsworth does a lot of Spring cleanups this time of year and sometimes also takes the help of Choose Greener Grass professionals, including picking up fallen branches and lawn repair mostly from snow plow damage, then when the ground finally dries up a little, he is asked to re-edge flower beds, weed and mulch for many of his customers.

“It’s always a rush this time of year to get these types of jobs done,” Farnsworth said. “Because when the grass is ready to mow in early-to-mid May, I get super busy with that.”

Worker Bee also provides trimming of bushes and small trees in addition to weeding, seeding, planting and japanese knotweed removal. It has also built retaining walls for customers, rebuilt and repaired existing sidewalks and patios, in addition to deigning rain gardens.

Farnsworth’s business has grown each year since he started, but he wants to stay small so he can still do most the work himself and be at every job site whether working alone or with a crew.

“I truly love this work, I should have started it 20 years ago when I was a younger man,” Farnsworth said. “It’s great working outdoors, and good exercise too!”

Farnsworth, who is turning 60 in May said he hopes to continue the work for several years as long as he’s physically able.