Heritage Landscaping of Kennewick is under new ownership, but the new faces at the helm aren’t unfamiliar.

The residential and commercial landscape construction and maintenance business with offices in Kennewick, Spokane, Yakima and Suncadia recently changed hands from founder Randy Mendenhall to his sons, Matt Mendenhall and Andrew Mendenhall.

The two have worked off and on at the family business, now in its 32nd year, since they were kids while longtime customers have watched them grow.

Now, the pair manage some 200 employees with Matt Mendenhall heading up the contracting side of the business and Andrew Mendenhall overseeing Heritage’s landscape maintenance division.

“In the last couple of years, a national chain came in and offered to buy us, so I sat down with Matt and Andrew, and we determined we wanted to stay local and continue to manage our company,” Randy Mendenhall said.

“This last year, we starting the planning process of (Matt and Andrew) purchasing the company and now that’s complete,” he said.

“It wasn’t an expectation for us both to come back here,” Andrew Mendenhall said. “Dad didn’t expect us to come back. It was our decision and something we’ve always wanted to do. We’re happy to be here and be a part of the family company.”

Homecoming

Both brothers pursued college baseball opportunities. Andrew Mendenhall attended the University of Oregon and graduated with a degree in business, while Matt Mendenhall followed in his dad’s footsteps and attended Washington State University, graduating with a degree in landscape architecture.

Heritage Landscaping in Kennewick recently shifted ownership from founder Randy Mendenhall, from left, to his sons Matt and Andrew Mendenhall. Matt heads up the contracting side of the business while his brother manages the landscape maintenance side. 

| Photo by Laura Kostad

When they came home to join the family business, both started at the ground level with Andrew Mendenhall mowing lawns and Matt Mendenhall installing landscaping elements on a construction crew.

“I’ve tried to learn every aspect of the company. Some people come in and take over, but it’s been good to come in and understand the entire company,” Andrew Mendenhall said.

Matt Mendenhall echoed his brother’s sentiment, adding, “Learning and absorbing the knowledge my dad has and having someone to ask questions when we have situations we need to solve has helped me grow quickly … I worked my way into the office, doing designs and meeting with clients, then start to finish managing and installing residential and commercial projects.”

Though the elder Mendenhall is semi-retired now and has more time to devote to fine-tuning his golf swing, he can still be found around the Kennewick shop.

“I’m still here to help out with consulting and working on customer relationships and making sure things go smooth in the transition. I have really enjoyed every day coming to work; unfortunately, I like what I do,” he said.

He attributes the success of Heritage to two major company focuses: “Customer service has been No. 1, as well as being creative and relevant with our landscape ideas and designs and diverse in the type of work that we do both residentially and commercially to keep us vertically integrated.”

No. 2 is long-term employee retention. “We were one of the first (local) companies to offer full benefits and we hold a lot of employee appreciation events as well as maintain a good work environment.”

Heritage’s team of landscape craftsmen features personnel with degrees in landscape architecture, horticulture, certified irrigation auditors and certified hardscape installers.

Each has between 10 and 25 years of experience in the industry and each field foreman has a minimum of seven years of installation experience.

Heritage prides itself on reliability, availability and on-time delivery of services.

In addition to being able to tackle the full gamut of residential landscaping projects, Heritage also has extensive experience in the commercial sector spanning multifamily developments, parks and recreational facilities, retail and office complexes, revegetation and wetland mitigation, water conservation and xeriscape design, industrial and commercial use facilities, streetscapes and parkways, special-purpose properties, hotels and restaurants and entry monuments.

Patience, persistence, perspiration
Randy Mendenhall grew up in Ritzville and graduated from WSU with a degree in landscape architecture. He started Heritage in 1993 after moving to Tri-Cities from the Seattle area where he worked for the first eight years of his career.

He first rented a building on Canal Drive. When an eight-acre former trucking business at 2816 W. 27th Ave. became available on the other side of town, he decided to make the move.

Heritage has been there ever since.

“It’s been a great market to grow a business and raise a family,” Randy Mendenhall said.

Heritage Landscaping is at 2816 #A W. 27th Ave. The longtime Kennewick business recently changed hands from founder Randy Mendenhall to his sons.

| Photo by Laura Kostad

In addition to landscape construction and maintenance, Heritage also used to run a retail nursery business and home accent store selling a wide array of plants and bulk rock, bark and soil.

The Mendenhall brothers have fond memories of growing up there, leaving their early mark on the place by way of little handprints in concrete and interacting with customers and their children who came to shop.

“I remember just working in the summers more as a chore when I was younger and painting the fences to make money, but then I would try to wrangle some of my friends up to help me. I had a summer job doing odd things around the house and office,” Andrew Mendenhall said.

Christmas time was particularly memorable, featuring sleigh rides, reindeer and Santa Claus appearances.

“At one point we thought it would be a good idea to get peacocks to hang out at the nursery,” Randy Mendenhall said. “Turns out they ate all the flowers and flew off now and then we would get a call.”

Randy Mendenhall said he’s proud of having been the general coordinator for the Playground of Dreams and kept Heritage involved in the community over the years.

One of his favorite memories is when Heritage got to participate in KVEW’s “Extreme Makeover” yard show where his team had to transform a deserving local resident’s yard into their dream vision in 48 hours. He said the experience really struck a chord.

Eventually Heritage shifted gears out of retail to focus on landscape construction and maintenance.

About 20 years ago, it established a presence in the budding Suncadia resort community near Cle Elum. About five years later, it acquired an office in Spokane. Heritage bought a company in Yakima three years ago to better serve customers in that area.

Business extends into parts of Idaho and Oregon as well. Though they might acquire more business in the future, for now, the Mendenhall brothers said they are focusing on continuing to develop their current offices and grow the customer base.

Andrew Mendenhall noted that he is hoping to expand Heritage’s pesticide and herbicide spraying services.

“It’s really important to talk about how fortunate we’ve been to have a really good staff of people here,” Randy Mendenhall said. “I think that’s really made Heritage what it is today.”

“A lot of our customers have been very loyal over the years too,” Andrew Mendenhall said. “We’ve been servicing a lot of the same properties for 20 years or more.” 

Heritage Landscaping: 2816 #A W. 27th Ave., Kennewick, 509-586-0744, heritagelandscaping.com.