Our History
Wapsie Pines Lawn Care & Landscaping is locally owned and operated by Danny Moulds of Cedar Falls. Danny grew up on his family's Christmas Tree Farm in Fairbank. He's been around all things green for as long as he can remember. After returning from college in 2002, Danny started a small lawn care business. Danny acquired additional lawn care companies and expanded his business to include landscape design and installation. Our retail garden center, Wapsie Pines Nursery & Greenhouse, opened in the spring of 2011 and in 2017, moved to its current location. We have 35 year-round employees and add another 10-15 seasonal employees each spring.
Danny believes in investing in his company and his employees. It shows as Wapsie Pines has several employees that have worked here for over 10 years and many more that have worked here over five years. Wapsie Pines Lawn Care & Landscaping has a history in northeast Iowa and plans to remain here and grow with Cedar Falls and the surrounding communities.
Our Vision
We strive to be the premier lawn care and landscaping company in the Cedar Valley. We want to improve and protect clients' property values by providing professional landscape design, installation, and maintenance, We work to transform your outdoor living spaces into functional and beautiful spaces so you can enjoy more time doing what you enjoy most!
CALL US FOR ALL THINGS OUTDOORS!
We will save you time and enhance your outdoor spaces so you have more time for the things your enjoy.
WE ARE HERE TO STAY!
We are locally owned and have been in business in this community since 2002 and we aren"t going anywhere!
WE'LL MAKE IT RIGHT!
We strive to do it right the first time but if you"re not happy, we"re not happy. If there"s a problem or concern, we will do our best to make it right and meet your expectations.
OUR EMPLOYEES ARE OUR GREATEST ASSET!
We know you form relationships with our employees. It"s important to YOU which makes it important to US that we hire and retain great employees.
Meet the Team
Our employees care about our company and our clients! Our employees are polite, respectful of your family and your property, and willing to go the extra mile to make sure we meet all of your expectations. We appreciate the relationships our employees form with our clients and do our best to see that our employees stay with us by providing a work environment that cultivates a sense of family, community, and teamwork. We provide education and training designed to promote long-term employee retention, advancement, and loyalty.
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Owner
Company Role
Owner/Operator – the buck stops here!
Experience and Credentials
I grew up in the green industry helping on my parents’ Christmas tree farm. At six years old, I started mowing and caring for the trees. I have my two year degree in Horticulture from Hawkeye Community College. I started this business in 2002 and have been continuously involved in the day-to-day operations.
Best Things About Your Job
Every day is a different day. Each day brings new challenges and opportunities. I get to enjoy Mother Nature, both good and bad. It’s rewarding to see projects come together and to create new and vibrant spaces for our clients. We also get to play with lots of pretty cool equipment!
Favorite Quote
“Quality is never an accident. it’s always the result of intelligent effort.” John Ruskin
Daily challenge you wish you could change
We have many great customers and clients and I wish I could be everywhere I’m needed at the same time!
Hobbies
I love spending time with my family in the outdoors, doing just about anything. I enjoy hunting, fishing, running, and biking. A great day is spent in my old stomping grounds on the Wapsi River near Fairbank, hiking through the woods and fishing my old honey holes for Northern Pike.
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General Manager
Experience
I started my own lawn care business in 1998 and have been hands on in the lawn care industry ever since. My former business grew from a dozen customers to several hundred while I was also working a full-time law enforcement job and raising my kids. Our owner, Danny Moulds, and I worked together on projects for a few years. Danny and I decided we’d both benefit by merging my lawn care company with his landscape company. I then became part of the Wapsie Pines family! I enjoy the challenges of our industry and am always looking for ways to improve our lawn care services for our customers.
Favorite Quote
“In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.” – Abraham Lincoln
Daily Challenge You Face in Your Job
Mother Nature consistently dictates and changes our schedules. This not only affects customer projects, but also our employees. It’s a constant challenge to keep customers, employees, and equipment all in sync and moving in the right direction.
Best Things About Your Job
I enjoy coming to work every day. I love working with our customers and employees and enjoy the challenge of working with many different personalities. I enjoy interacting with customers face-to-face, working with them to improve their outdoor living spaces. Maintaining the family atmosphere of our company is important to me as we all change and grow together.
Hobbies and Interests
I have lots of hobbies including travel, hunting, fishing, boating, camping, and spending time with friends. Above all else, I love quality time spent making memories with my children and grandchildren.
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Project Manager
Company Role
As a Landscape Project Manager, I manage our three landscaping crews. I make sure each crew has the right material, supplies, and equipment onsite so they can complete their job. I do quality control and monitor progress on all jobs.
Experience and Credentials
I studied horticulture at Kirkwood Community College. I worked almost three full summers after colloege as a laborer for Culver’s Landscaping in the Cedar Rapids area. I was a foreman at Wapsie PInes for almost five seasons. I have now been the project manager since 2015.
Best Things About Your Job
Wapsie Pines has a small, family-like atmosphere. From the boss to the new employee, everyone has a place and a purpose with the company. We are very close and have a lot of fun working together. I enjoy coming to work each day and interacting with my fellow coworkers. I also enjoy our clients. It’s rewarding to work for Wapsie Pines and we get to work with great people!
Favorite Quote
“YOGOWYPI – You only get out what you put in.”
Common misconception you deal with in your daily job
We can’t control the weather. When you are dealing with so many clients and you are dependent on dry conditions to get most of the work done, it’s hard to stay on schedule. We don’t forget about anyone or deliberately put people off but for every rain day, you need a day and a half of dry weather to catch back up. Our schedule is constantly changing week-to-week and sometimes day-to-day. We try to plan a couple of weeks in advance but it’s hard!
Hobbies
Sports and coaching are my true hobbies! I enjoy spending as much time as possible with my son, daughter, and wife Abby.
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Project Manager
Company Role
Lawn Care Project Manager
Experience and Credentials
I have a Horticulture degree from Hawkeye Community College and have worked in the landscape and lawn care industry since 2003. I have worked for a sod farm, irrigation company, and multiple landscape and lawn care companies in the Cedar Valley. Each company did things a little differently and I’ve taken what I’ve learned through the years and applied it to my job today.
Favorite Quote
“Work hard, play hard.”
What have you learned from your job that you’d like everyone to know
All lawns and properties are NOT created equal. Plants that worked in your old landscape or your neighbor’s landscape, may not work in your current landscape. The amount of sunlight and soil type both play a big role in what plants, trees, and shrubs, will work in your landscape. A good landscape company helps you figure out what works best in your unique situation.
Best thing about your job
Employees are given the freedom to spread their wings and take themselves as far as they can go.
Hobbies
I enjoy helping with my kids’ activities and spending time as a family. If I get some “me” time, it’s usually spent hunting or fishing.
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Field Services Coordinator
Company Role
I am the “air traffic controller’ of the service side of our business. I monitor and direct all lawn care, irrigation and snow removal crews using software that includes GPS tracking. I communicate regularly with our crews and resolve customer service issues on the lawn care side of the business.
Experience and Credentials
I’ve worked in the lawn care business since about 2003. I’ve worked with lots of different software through the years and enjoy the challenges of ever-changing technology. I’ve always worked with the public and enjoy building relationships with our clients. I have a B.S. degree from Iowa. Go Hawks!
Favorite Quote
“Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.” Robert Brault
Daily challenge you face
Mother Nature is so unpredictable. We do our best to stay on schedule and complete our services in a timely manner. Our service’s schedule is fluid and ever-changing as occasionally, as we Iowans know, even the weather service gets it wrong.
Best things about your job
It’s great working for a company where all employees take pride in what they do and take ownership of the company. Danny, our owner, is one of the best bosses I’ve worked for. He’s a dedicated family man which rolls over into the way he deals with our company. He’s always striving to help his employees better themselves and to improve and grow the company. He makes it easy to come to work each day!
Hobbies
We have a place on the Mississippi so we do lots of boating and spending time there with family and friends. I enjoy a good murder mystery and love to travel, especially to visit my daughter in Virginia.
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Office Manager
Company Role
I am the Office Manager which includes responsibilities for Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Payroll, and Human Resources. We mail and email hundreds of invoices each month so there are lots of phone calls and questions that go along with that.
Year you started with Wapsie Pines
2004
Experience and Credentials
I attended Hawkeye Community College in the Business Office Clerical program. I worked at a bank for several years and then at CUNA Mutual in Waverly. I gained lots of experience dealing with customers during my many years as a waitress.
Favorite Quotes
“Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get.” Forrest Gump
“It’s 5 o’clock somewhere!”
Best things about your job
I was lucky enough to get in on the ground floor and helped establish the first Wapsie Pines “office”. It’s exciting to watch a business grow and prosper. We are always making changes and learning something new to make the business run more efficiently and effectively. I like that I have lots of variety in my day and I love the people I work with. We are a “WP” family.
Common misconception you deal with in your daily job
Our goal is to please 100% of our customers, 100% of the time. Because our business relies on Mother Nature, things don’t always happen exactly as planned or as we would like them to!
Hobbies
I love spending time with friends and family, going to my grandkids’ sporting events, golfing, shopping, and working out.
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Marketing & Supply Manager
Company Role
I am the Marketing and Supply Manager so I do research, ordering, and pricing for our Nursery & Greenhouse. In addition, I deal with most marketing, advertising. and social media related activities. I do lots of other miscellaneous tasks that come with working for a small business. Variety is the spice of life!
Experience and Credentials
I love gardening and Googling! I started here when the nursery was young and we all had a lot to learn. I love solving problems and creating systems and spreadsheets to track inventory and keep us organized. I have an Interior Design degree which helps with the decor side of the nursery. I have a business minor which helps with the marketing side of my job. Mostly, I just Google.
Best things about your job
I love working for a small business where your job is varied and no two days are alike. Each employee can really make a difference! I am grateful that I get to work around plants which is one of my passions. Danny is a great boss and a great human being and all things flow downward so he makes Wapsie Pines a great place to work.
Favorite Quote
“Comparison is the thief of joy.” T. Roosevelt
Common problem faced by your customers
Finding a plant that’s maintenance free, ever blooming, deer and rabbit resistant, drought tolerant, shade and sun tolerant, and only gets as big as it says on the tag.
Hobbies
I love to garden and have learned it’s a journey, not a destination. I am constantly moving plants around in my landscape and am never completely satisfied. I like to sit on the deck and read and watch the birds. I quilt, go to flea markets, and love spending time with family and friends.
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Nursery & Greenhouse Manager
Company Role
I am the Nursery and Greenhouse Manager.
Experience
My passion for plants has driven me to experiment in my own landscape. I’m constantly relocating plants to find the best location so each plant can thrive. Hands-on experience has been beneficial and I continue to read and research as thousands of new cultivars are introduced annually and there is always so much to learn!
Best things about your job
I love the excitement of spring and am so motivated that time of year. At Wapsie Pines, spring is on steroids! There are so many moving parts that make up Wapsie Pines and the number of people and pieces of equipment that head off in different directions each morning is impressive. Most importantly, I’m blessed to be a part of the incredible group of people that make up the “WP” family.
Favorite Quote
“Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.” – Frank Lloyd Wright
Common problem faced by your customers
Most customers know a newly planted tree, shrub, or flower will die if not watered. Most people don’t know that over-watering actually kills more new plants than underwatering.
Hobbies
Spending time with family is what I enjoy most. I also love to photograph plants and birds near my home. I love being outdoors in summer, boating, kayaking, and getting dirty caring for plants, both at work, and at home.
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Landscape Designer
Company Role
I am a Landscape Designer so I meet with clients to discuss their landscape wants and needs and to find solutions to their problems. I do design work, plant selection, and estimate preparation. Once we start a project, I act as Project Manager working with both our landscape crews and our clients.
Experience and Credentials
I love landscape design and solving problems. I have a Master’s Degree in Landscape Architecture from the University of New Mexico. I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture. I have 15 years experience with AutoCAD.
Best things about your job
I am proud to work for a company which has a long history of producing quality work. I like that our employees work as a team and are supportive of each other. Our company is family friendly, and our employees are provided with opportunities to grow and learn.
Favorite Quote
“In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” Albert Einstein
Common client request that you’d like to be able to deliver
I’d love to design a truly maintenance free landscape with plants that last forever. Unfortunately, we are dealing with living, growing things that sometimes need maintenance and have a finite lifespan.
Hobbies
I enjoy cooking and often watch YouTube videos for new recipes. I like to sit on the deck and listen to music and watch what’s going on outdoors. I love to spend time with family and love chatting with my friends.
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Lawn Care Foreman
Company Role
I am the Lawn Care Foreman so I direct and supervise our lawn care crews.
Year you started with Wapsie Pines
2008
Experience and Credentials
I grew up mowing my family farm. I have learned by experience and am now running four lawn care crews!
Best things about your job
I’ve made lots of good friends. I like the before and after of a lawn care job. I like doing a job well and I thank Danny (our owner) for giving me the tools I need to do quality work.
Favorite Quotes
Work smarter not harder.
Clean don’t lean.
Common misconception you deal with in your daily job
Bagging grass every time isn’t what’s best for your lawn. Grass clippings left in the lawn provide a ready source of fertilizer while helping the soil retain water which promotes root growth and a healthy lawn.
Hobbies
I like spending time outdoors with family and friends. I enjoy working in the garden, fishing, hunting, and hiking in the woods with my dog.
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Irrigation Foreman
Company Role
Lead Irrigation Technician
Favorite Quote
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Bert Lance
What is your history with Wapsie Pines?
I’ve been with the company for ten years. I started out mowing lawns, then was moved to landscaping, and finally irrigation.
What do you like about working at Wapsie Pines?
I really enjoy working with customers.
What do you enjoy doing when you’re not working?
I love to fish!
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Company Role
Landscape Foreman
Experience and Credentials
I’d been landscaping for a couple of years prior to joining Wapsie Pines in 2012. I have been a Foreman since 2013 and am ICPI (Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute) certified.
Best thing about your job
I enjoy being outdoors on a daily basis but I especially like seeing an outdoor living space transform from start to finish.
Common misconception about your job
Deadlines are deadlines and they never change. Unfortunately this is not true as weather is a huge factor in whether or not we’re able to meet a deadline. The time it takes to do a job and do it right doesn’t change but weather conditions affect whether we are able to get it done by a certain date.
Favorite Quote
“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” – Wayne Gretzky
Hobbies
I enjoy golfing, going home to Okoboji to enjoy the lake, and watching the Cubs and Vikings. I especially enjoy spending time with my wife, Cali, my kids, and my black lab, Mia.
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Company Role
Landscape Foreman
Favorite Quote
“It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.” -Theodore Roosevelt
What is a common misconception you deal with in your job?
That everything always goes exactly as planned. Sometimes we run into problems so the plan has to be adjusted in order to make things more functional or more aesthetically pleasing.
What do you like about working at Wapsie Pines?
I like the people I work with. Everyone wants to be there and takes pride in what they do.
What is your history with the company?
I have worked here since 2012, starting at the bottom and working my way up to Landscape Foreman.
What do you enjoy doing when you’re not working?
I enjoy spending time with family and friends. I especially enjoy spending time with my wife, Samantha, our daughter, and our German Shepherd, Copper. I also like to golf.
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Company Role
As a Landscape Foreman, I supervise a crew who does new landscape installations as well as updating of existing landscapes. We do everything you can imagine and more!
Year you started with Wapsie Pines
2012
Experience and Credentials
Most of my experience landscaping comes from learning on the job at Wapsie Pines. I am a hard worker and a team player and have worked my way to becoming a Foreman.
Best things about your job
My favorite part of my job is seeing the daily progress of a landscape project. Finally seeing the finished project gives you a great feeling of accomplishment.
Favorite Quote
“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.” Dr. Seuss
Common problem you see with new landscapes
Clients often don’t water new plants long enough. New plants need to be watered until established which could be a couple of weeks or more in the summer. If it’s extremely hot and windy, that could mean watering a couple of times a day.
Hobbies
I like to be outside fishing, grilling, relaxing, and trying new beers at our local breweries!
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Company Role
Spray Tech/Applicator
Experience and Credentials
I have an Associates degree in Horticulture from Hawkeye Community College. I worked at the Hy-Vee Garden Center for four years prior to working at Wapsie Pines.
Best things about your job
I love working with plants in the nursery and making customers’ lawns look nice and healthy.
Favorite Quote
“People are like grass; their beauty is like a flower in the field. The grass withers and the flower fades. But the word of the Lord remains forever.” 1 Peter 1:24-25
Common misconception you deal with in your daily job
Just because I work at a lawn care and landscaping company doesn’t mean I know how to landscape!
Hobbies
I enjoy spending time outdoors working on my own lawn and garden. I love spending time with my wife and daughters.