Nate Jensen
Owner, Jensen Gardens
Omaha, Neb.
1. How did Jensen Gardens get started, and what services do you offer?
When I was 9, I saved some pumpkin seeds and planted them in the backyard. It took over. From then on, I was hooked. I loved growing things. Started mowing and snow removal at 9 years old, dad carting me around at 4 a.m. so we would have the driveways done before 7 a.m. Then worked landscaping in high school and college and loved it. Jensen Gardens was started as a design/build, landscape and snow-removal company in 2002. Nick Jensen and Eric Gustafson joined in 2004 and helped us grow to our current offering of design/build, bid/build, maintenance, snow removal, pools, playgrounds, structures and tree care.
2. What are your expectations for the industry for the next five or 10 years?
If you think back to 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 … if you can go through that, everything else is a walk in the park. I think people are getting leery, saying, “It’s not as busy as it was two or three years ago.” COVID turned out to be a windfall for all landscapers in general. Now, we’re getting away from that, to more like it was before COVID, when we had to fight for customers. We’ve got to be on our A-game as far as customer service and response times.
3. Why did you choose to join a peer group?
My brother talked me into it. Once you learn what some of these other guys are doing, you get a little bit of competitiveness within the peer group. Like, “Oh, their numbers are better than ours, their turnover is less than ours?” When you think you have one thing figured out, you then realize somebody else has it more figured out. Or maybe we’re prioritizing the wrong thing. It teaches you to focus your energy where it needs to go.
4. Do you have a most memorable day at work, maybe a day where you felt like you really made it?
I don’t think you ever make it. I’ve never felt like I made it. The goal posts are always moving. That might be a character flaw. Now, the moment when you build a waterfall and plug the waterfall in and see the pumps running for the first time — that never gets old. Those are the good days. Or showing up when the crew is at lunch, and they share their lunch with you, and it’s some of the best Mexican food you can have. Those are the good days.
5. How did you and your wife meet, and what do you do for fun?
Jaime and I are high school sweethearts. For fun, we’re hobby farmers. She’s the chicken whisperer. I’ve got five cows. We pretend to be farmers when we’re not landscaping. It’s mostly for fun; it’s not a revenue generator, that’s for sure.
