Scott and Alex Lawn
Co-owners, father and son, Greenway Irrigation, Lawn and Landscape & Greenway Lawn Aeration, San Diego
1. Your last names are Lawn … were you destined to be in this industry?
Scott: It didn’t dawn on me, as strange as it may sound, that my last name is Lawn when I got into the lawn and landscape business. I was a business broker for a number of years, selling small businesses. I thought I would buy a service business of some kind and resell it after I used my marketing skills to make it better. The first one I bought was a little one-man aeration business. I simply liked it. I didn’t have to wear a suit and tie anymore. I spent the last 28 years building it up to what it is today. We converted about 18 years ago to being a licensed landscape contractor, everything from fixing a sprinkler to a complete landscape makeover, or even a new construction.
2. How’s it been going during the pandemic and how are you adjusting?
Alex: We’re still extremely busy. The only thing that’s changed is we’ve had to shut down our aeration side temporarily. The construction side is still going strong. Like everyone, we’ve had clients here and there say they want to pause for right now. But we’re still really busy. We’re keeping distance from clients. No shaking hands, no going inside homes. We’re trying to make it so we’re safe and the client is safe.
Scott: Everybody has gloves, everybody has masks. Everybody has antiseptic spray on the equipment and (uses it) as we’re entering and leaving properties, so we’re not bringing anything in and we’re not taking anything away. The rule states stay 6 feet apart; we’re staying 15 feet apart. We are telling our clients, ‘We’re worried about your safety, don’t be offended.’ And instead of putting them off, it assures them that we are taking care.
3. Alex, what can you tell me about your Camaro and that crazy paint job?
It’s a 2019 Camaro 2SF. I have the Greenway lettering on the tires. People see the tires and say ‘Greenway?’ I’ve actually picked up clients at car shows with the car. Life is too serious; you’ve got to have a little bit of fun. It’s free flowing, something different that no one else has. The reason I don’t put Greenway stickers on the car, and only on the tires is because sometimes the car goes faster than it should. (You can check out the Camaro on Instagram at @toxic_garages.)
4. What’s the best part of your jobs?
Alex: The people. It’s our staff, our clients. Being able to work with my dad is amazing. I realize this: I have something special a lot of people don’t have … I have a great relationship with both of my parents. The fact that I can be best friends with my dad and have him as a business partner and work with him on a daily basis is pretty amazing. And getting to see the smile on our clients’ faces when we’ve done something for them … in the beginning they say, ‘I just don’t go outside. I don’t go out in my backyard.’ I say, ‘Seriously? You have one of the best views in San Diego!’ And when I get them outside for the first time in years, that makes it worth it, seeing the smile on their faces.
5. Scott, looking back, were there times you thought that Alex might one day be working alongside you?
One of my favorite memories is, as I’d be aerating a lawn and he was 3 years old, he would demand to bring his plastic lawn mower and follow along with me. When he was 5 years old, the thing he asked for that blew Santa’s mind? He said ‘a weed wacker.’ Santa looked at me and said, ‘What?’ So he got a weed wacker that Christmas, but it wasn’t from Santa.
