When we say Washington Tree & Lawn Care is like a family, it's not a marketing line. It's true.

1948 - Jack Pitts, and his son-in-law Stan Raplee, turned their love of big beautiful trees into a business and Washington Tree was born.

1950 - More caterpillars than you've ever seen hit the Seattle area! Stan and Jack figure out a way to get rid of them, and the pest control side of the business takes off.

1963 - Jack and Stan expand again, this time into lawn care.

1967 - Jack retires but the business continues to thrive under Stan's leadership.

1974 - Stan admits he can't live forever and picks a new general manager, his protégé, 30-something Ed Walter (a distant relative).

1974 - Randy Mock, a 23-year-old friend of the family, joins the Washington Tree & Lawn Care team as a helper on a spray truck … and never leaves!

1980- Randy takes over the Lawn & Weed division.

1986 - Ed co-founds Washington Friends of Farms & Forests, to encourage and build dialogue and unity between pesticide companies and environmental advocates in Washington State.

1992 - Ed works with then-State Senator Patty Murray to write new legislation on pesticide-sensitive registries.

1997 - Ed takes the helm from Stan, becoming president and CEO.

2004 - Washington Tree & Lawn Care introduces their natural/organic yard care system. (Yep, we went green before it was popular.)

Today - Ed and Randy continue to run Washington Tree & Lawn Care, keeping the legacy of stellar customer service thriving, and setting the vision for the future.

The rest of our staff? First, they're not called employees. They're team. They're family. Thirty percent have worked here more than 20 years. Ten percent have worked here more than 30 years.

Second, they know they can walk into Ed's office and talk about anything. The good, the bad, and yes, even the ugly.

Third, our doors are open. People are free to express how they feel without fear of getting fired.

Fourth, we don't micro-manage. We trust our team to do their job. They love working here. And we're deeply grateful for them.

Why is all this important for you to know? So you realize people who care are the people who will be caring for your yard.