Land Escapes: 30 Years of Creativity, Care & Cultivating Relationships

What started as a casual conversation about plants at a local coffee shop has grown into a thriving landscape business celebrating 30 years of serving the Lincoln community. Since founding Land Escapes in 1996, its owner has built the company from a one-person operation into a team of experienced landscape professionals known for creativity, quality and long-standing client relationships.

Land Escapes began almost by accident. After purchasing her first home, the owner discovered a passion for working outdoors, creating landscape beds and learning about plants. While chatting about her newfound interest with a customer at the coffee shop where she worked, another customer overheard the conversation and asked if she would be interested in helping with the landscaping at their acreage. She agreed, and word-of-mouth quickly brought more opportunities her way.

For the first seven years, she handled all the work herself before hiring her first employee and officially naming the business Land Escapes. For many years, the company continued to operate with one small crew, with its owner spending much of her time on job sites. Over time, she gradually shifted into a management role, focusing more on running and growing the business.

The company experienced a significant period of growth in 2020, when the pandemic prompted many homeowners to invest in their outdoor spaces. Today, Land Escapes operates two full-time crews: one dedicated to ornamental landscape maintenance and another focused on landscape installation projects. Seasonal work brings additional crews for container planting and holiday decorating.

In 2019, the owner purchased a commercial property that now serves as the company's home base. The property also features an on-site nursery, allowing Land Escapes to supply many of the plants used in its installation projects. This expanded space has created opportunities for continued growth while maintaining the company's commitment to quality and personalized service.

A Specialty in the Details

At its heart, Land Escapes specializes in ornamental landscape maintenance. Rather than offering every possible landscaping service, the company has intentionally focused on the areas where its team excels. Its services include landscape design, plant and material installation, mulch and rock, small to medium-sized retaining walls, pavers, flagstone and light drainage solutions.

The company also offers seasonal custom container planting for spring, summer, fall and winter, along with holiday lighting and interior decorating. From custom Christmas trees and garlands to wreaths and creative seasonal displays, Land Escapes brings its design expertise beyond the landscape beds and into homes and businesses.

This variety of creative work is one of the owner's favorite parts of the business. She enjoys everything from selecting plants and developing landscape designs to creating the company's marketing materials, website graphics, brochures and social media content. That creativity, paired with a deliberate approach to the services offered, allows Land Escapes to deliver distinctive, thoughtful results without spreading its team too thin.

Rooted in Relationships

After three decades in business, one of Land Escapes' greatest accomplishments is the strong relationships it has built throughout the Lincoln area. The company takes pride in its exceptional client retention and the many customers it has served for nearly as long as it has been in business.

The owner jokes that Land Escapes typically loses clients for only three reasons: they move out of town, move into assisted living or pass away. While humorous, the comment reflects the genuine, long-term connections that have become a defining part of the business.

Beyond its client relationships, Land Escapes is active in the local professional community as a member of the Elite Referral Network (ERN). Through this organization, the team has developed connections with other local businesses and nonprofits, creating opportunities for networking, referrals and mutual support.

The company's dedication to professionalism has also earned it recognition over the years. Highlights include first place in the NNLA Seasonal Container Design Award in 2018, the KFOR Best of Lincoln Landscaping Award in 2019 and first place in the Lincoln Journal Star's Lincoln's Choice Awards for Best Landscaping Company in 2022. Land Escapes has also placed among the top three or five finalists in several other years, including 2026. Its holiday lighting and decorating work has earned multiple local homeowners association contest awards.

Land Escapes has maintained its Bronze A+ Accreditation with the Better Business Bureau since 2007 and remains involved in several industry organizations, including the Home Builders Association of Lincoln, the National Association of Landscape Professionals, AmericanHort and the National Holiday Decorative Association.

Investing in People and Growth

For the owner, building a successful business has always meant more than providing quality landscape services. Creating a positive, family-like work environment where employees can develop professionally and personally is equally important.

Having spent years performing the same hands-on work as her team, she understands the physical demands and challenges of the job. That experience helps her connect with employees and appreciate the effort they bring to their work each day.

Every employee who joins Land Escapes becomes part of what she considers her work family, whether they stay for one season or many years. The company invests in its team through ongoing training and education, with dedicated leadership coaching for designers, team leads and managers. Its professional crews bring more than 70 years of combined industry experience, and several team members hold commercial pesticide licenses.

As a locally and woman-owned business, Land Escapes continues to prioritize quality, education and steady growth. Rather than pursuing expansion for its own sake, the company is focused on building upon the services and expertise it has developed over the past 30 years.

Finding Time to Recharge

Outside of work, the owner enjoys spending time with her husband, Pat, and their cat, Mezkal. During the summer, they frequently escape to their family's cabin at Woodcliff Lake near Fremont. Although she inevitably finds herself doing some landscaping there, she also makes time to relax, enjoy boat rides, paddleboard, kayak and take in the lake scenery.

When time allows, the couple enjoys road trips to explore nearby destinations, with Weston, Missouri, among their favorites. For longer getaways, they gravitate toward Caribbean resorts with white sand beaches and clear turquoise water. The owner jokes that she may have been a surfer in a past life, given her love of the ocean, sand and sunshine. Nebraska's lakes, however, don't quite offer the same appeal when she can't see what's swimming beneath the surface.

After 30 years, Land Escapes has grown from an unexpected side opportunity into an established landscape business with a loyal client base, a talented team and a reputation for creative, specialized service. Its story is a reminder that sometimes the most rewarding careers begin with a simple conversation, a willingness to say yes and a passion that grows one project at a time.