Scott and Kristy Ramey, owners of Ramey’s Yard Care, stand head and shoulders above the competition, taking top honors as the Best Professional Lawn Care Service for the fourth straight year in the Business Journal of North Idaho Best of Contest. 

Their expertise in the industry didn’t happen overnight; in fact, it took years of sweat and elbow grease to make a name for themselves. 

“I've been doing this since I was a teenager,” Scott said. “It's all I've ever done.”  

In 1998, Scott, Kristy, and their two boys, then ages 1 and 3, moved from the Bay Area in California to North Idaho and began their business out of their home in the Hayden area. 

“In the beginning, it was just me doing the work, the mowing, pruning and raking,” Scott said. "A couple of years later, I saw the potential in lawn spray work, which has been a main focus ever since.” 

By 2020, the Rameys' business had expanded enough to purchase property and outbuildings at 1841 W. Hayden Ave., from which they have operated ever since.  

"We’ve grown to the point where we have a staff of 20 now, including me and Kristy, who is our office manager,” Scott said. 

Not only has the business grown in the past couple of decades, but their boys have as well. Both went on to college and then became real estate agents, one in Oregon and the other in Wisconsin.  

Scott said he and Kristy also have a grown daughter, but none of their children are interested in taking over the business once they retire. 

“I can’t say that I’m, that we are disappointed with their decisions,” Scott said. “We had some very lean years early on as we were growing the business, and I can understand why it may not have been of any interest to them. But we’re blessed to be generating a good income for the last five to seven years.” 

Their success hasn’t come easy, however. 

“That’s typical of this business,” Scott said. “You have to put in a lot of hard work getting things up and running and getting your name out there and proving your worth to people.” 

As a mom-and-pop business, there was also pressure to compete with larger corporations in the same industry. But Scott and Kristy took that in stride. 

“I think we’ve competed pretty well against the big companies; two of them are multi-state,” Scott said. “We’ve won the best professional lawn care service the past four years and finished second for pest control the last two years, so I guess we're competing pretty well.”  

The Rameys also provide services to the commercial industry. 

Scott said the business has presented some challenges throughout the years, but it's been rewarding as well. 

“It has been. It's nice to be recognized in the area as someone reliable and who can be trusted,” Scott said. “We stand behind our work. When something does go wrong, we own it and we just simply fix it.” 

Office hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Visit rameysyardcare.com or call 208-664-1349 for more information.