Building Our Roots:
The Legacy of My Grandparents
My story begins in childhood, when life handed my family a challenge. My mother was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, and while she was learning to cope with a difficult disease, my grandfather stepped in to help. He would bring over his riding mower to take care of our yard—nearly a third of an acre—because at my young age, pushing a mower was a struggle. He not only helped, but he also taught me how to mow properly, sharing techniques that made the job easier and more effective.
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As I grew older and eventually moved in with my grandparents, the roles began to shift. Starting college, I found myself caring for their property. My grandfather, Ed Fedor, a proud WWII veteran, could no longer safely manage the yard himself due to hip and stability issues. Though limited physically, he remained sharp and meticulous. He would sit on the porch, keeping a watchful eye, and coach me on how to “do it right.”
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He insisted on precision: trimming before mowing, circling the perimeter two or three times to keep clippings away from the house and flower beds, and always push mowing the ditches for safety. His standards were high, and meeting them wasn’t always easy.
Despite our generational differences—and my habit of hollering “GRANPAAAAA” loud enough for the neighbors to hear—we shared a bond. Beneath the jokes and head shakes was deep respect. He taught me the fundamentals of lawn care, attention to detail, and the pride of making a property look truly cared for.
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Those lessons, rooted in love and discipline, became the foundation of what Envy Lawn Care is today.
The "Better" Half:
Lessons from Grandma
My grandmother—GRANDMAAAAA, as I’d loudly tease her—was the other half of this story. She was every bit as tough as my grandfather, and maybe even pickier when it came to the yard. While Grandpa oversaw the mowing, Grandma Donna poured her energy into her flower beds, rose bushes, and landscaping. She never did anything halfway; if it wasn’t “done right,” it wasn’t done at all.
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In truth, I think it was Grandma who instilled my obsession with quality. She taught me that the details matter, whether it was pruning roses, trimming shrubs, or planting her beloved wave petunias. If I didn’t get it right the first time, she’d make me redo it until it met her standards. That commitment to excellence is something I carry into every job with Envy Lawn Care today.
Grandma was a strong woman—always caring for others, always stepping up to challenges, always putting her whole heart into everything she touched. Even as my grandfather aged and needed more care, she never let her landscaping go. She nurtured her roses, butterfly bushes, crepe myrtles, geraniums, and the deep purples and blues she loved so much.
She showed me not just how to care for plants, but how to care for people and for the spaces they cherish. Every day, I try to live up to the example she set. While I’ll never quite match her greatness, I know that Envy Lawn Care’s dedication to quality and beauty is rooted in the lessons she taught me.
Taking Care of Family & Forks In The Road
This photo captures one of the last truly good moments with my immediate family. My mother, wheelchair-bound from Multiple Sclerosis, sat alongside my Grandma Donna—the rock who held our family together—my sister with her children, my wife, and my father across from her. It was a Christmas I will never forget: joyful, yet bittersweet.
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Life has been a roller coaster for my family, as I know it has been for many of you. Over the past decade, we’ve endured immense loss. Within just a few years, I lost my father to stage 4 colon cancer, both sets of grandparents, and found myself—along with my sister—caring for my mother full-time until she to passed. These events changed everything.
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My Grandma Donna taught us that caring for loved ones was not optional—it was a duty. She cared for her aunt, her mother, her husband, and my mom, and she was a second mother to both my sister and me. When I was struggling through college and learning how to transition from son to caretaker, she was my constant—someone I could talk to, someone who taught me resilience, and someone who reminded me to always “watch out for the forks in the road.”
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As life unfolded, I tried to live by her example—supporting my grandmother as her health declined, walking with my father through his battle with cancer, and caring daily for my mother. But to be present for them, I needed flexibility in my work. Traditional jobs didn’t offer that, leaving me with no choice but to forge my own path.
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That was the moment the seeds of Envy Lawn Care were planted—born out of both necessity and love for family.
Gma Helen's Birthday!
​How We Got Started:
The Need For Something Different
I’ve worked construction on and off most of my life, and studied architecture with minors in marketing and history. But when life threw challenges my way, I turned to what I knew best—hard work and taking care of property. It started with a few handyman and cleanup jobs, and soon customers began asking if I also mowed. At that time, I was already maintaining my grandma’s, my mother’s, and my own yard, so I figured—why not?
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I didn’t have much to start with. My first “work truck” was an old pickup with a working heater but no A/C—a brutal ride in the summer heat. I salvaged a push mower, trimmer, and blower off the side of the road, fixed them up, and borrowed my mother’s Craftsman rider mower with a little TLC. Off I went, driving down the streets of my small town with a gas can, trimmer, and blower in tow. Some yards I could mow with the rider, others required multiple trips with the push mower loaded in the truck. It wasn’t glamorous, and it wasn’t very profitable, but it was enough to keep the bills paid and the dream alive.
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I built the business piece by piece—dumpster diving for equipment, buying bulk lots for parts, and reinvesting everything back into better tools. By 2021, I made it official: Envy Lawn Care was born. That year, I built my website, strengthened local business relationships, and steadily expanded services. Every dime I earned went back into reliable equipment and new offerings to better serve my community.
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Envy Lawn Care grew from necessity, determination, and family roots—but it’s sustained by a simple mission: to provide expertise, efficiency, and excellence in every yard we touch. Today, I’m proud to see how far we’ve come—and even more excited about where we’re going.
Old Blue Has Served Me Well
Making Them Proud
I miss my grandparents greatly and see and think of them every day and in just about everything I do. I was honored to know them in the capacity that I did. They were like parents to me when mine couldn't be there for me. They taught me and helped me become the man I am today. I owe them the world and hope I make them proud looking down from above.
