Our History
It All Started with a Boy
Who Wanted a Bike
Our founder and CEO Jason Craven began mowing neighborhood lawns when he was just 12 to earn money for a new bicycle. But his entrepreneurial spirit and exceptional attention to detail kept him going long after he’d bought that bike. By high school, his business had extended well beyond his neighborhood—and beyond what he could maintain alone.
After graduating from high school in 1995, Jason founded J.C. Services and hired his first two associates right away. Now, over 25 years later, that company has become Southern Botanical, a Dallas Landscaping Services Company and includes over 400 dedicated team members who share the same devotion to quality that the company was founded upon.
Dreaming Big
Jason Craven mowed his first lawn for Analee Ashley and earned $15. That year he asked for a Weed Eater as his only Christmas present. His mom couldn’t afford it, so landscape architect John Armstrong covered it. Southern Botanical still works with John to this day.
Starting Our Team
Jason graduated from high school and named his burgeoning lawn-maintenance business J.C. Services. He also hired his first team members, Daniel and Francisco Camacho, who are still part of the Southern Botanical team.
Growing with the Times
Thanks to the home-building boom, J.C. Services had over 100 customers and was landscaping and maintaining entire neighborhoods. This allowed us to expand from one truck to two.
Southern Botanical Was Born
J.C. Services became Southern Botanical, Inc. Our fleet expanded to three crews and we hired our first account manager. We moved out of Jason’s garage and into our first facility in North Dallas.
Changing Direction
We shifted our focus to the Park Cities/Preston Hollow area and started expanding our high-end residential landscape construction and maintenance business.
Reinforcing Quality
We launched our year-long weekly training program for frontline employees to ensure consistent quality. We also purchased our first building at 1525 Hinton Street in Dallas.
Recruiting the Best
We enhanced our recruiting efforts with an intern program and college recruitment for leadership roles.
Fueled by Inspiration
We began learning from the way great companies like Ritz Carlton and Sewell Automotive deliver consistently superior customer service to their clients.
SMU Dallas 100
We hired our 150th employee and were honored to make SMU’s Dallas 100 list that celebrates the spirit, determination and business savvy of local entrepreneurs.
Expanding Our Offerings
We added commercial landscaping and maintenance to our award-winning portfolio of services.
Leading the Way
We were selected to landscape the George W. Bush Presidential Center, which was the first LEED Platinum facility in Dallas, and worked with renowned landscape architect Michael Van Valkenburgh and the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. We also began offering tree care to our clients.
Turning Over a New Leaf
We opened our beautiful new headquarters at 3151 Halifax Street. We also redesigned our logo and launched our new tagline, The Green Standard.