The Ruppert Story

The Ruppert story begins in the early 1970s, when a teenage Craig Ruppert set out with a borrowed push mower and a single goal: earn enough money to buy a car and have some spending cash. Operating from his parents’ garage, he knocked on doors, mowed lawns, and discovered that reliable service and genuine respect for people created more opportunity than any advertisement. Joined by his brother Chris and friend Chris Davitt, he transformed that door‑to‑door hustle into Ruppert Landscape.

Through the late 1970s and 1980s the company evolved from basic mowing to full‑service landscape construction and maintenance for office parks, planned communities, and public spaces across the Washington/Baltimore corridor. The need for consistent, high‑quality plant material prompted the purchase of equipment, field inventory, and nursery acreage from J.H. Burton & Sons, giving birth to Ruppert Nurseries and a vertically integrated supply of shade, ornamental, and evergreen trees.

By the mid‑1990s Ruppert Landscape ranked among America’s leading contractors, yet Craig never lost sight of the belief that taking exceptional care of employees leads directly to satisfied clients. In 1998, amid industry consolidation, the company sold its service operations and equipment to ServiceMaster/TruGreen, but the sale excluded nursery land, enabling Ruppert Nurseries to flourish while Craig devoted time to family, philanthropy, and sharpening business skills for the next chapter.

That reflective interlude paved the way for diversification. Between 1998 and 2003 the family founded Ruppert Properties, a privately held real‑estate investment firm focused on office, flex, and industrial assets in the same regional market. Combining hands‑on expertise in development, construction, leasing, and facilities management with a conservative, cash‑flow‑first investment strategy, the new enterprise carried Ruppert’s people‑centric culture into commercial real estate.

Former colleagues and clients soon began asking when the green trucks would return. In 2003 many of the core leaders reunited, and Ruppert re‑entered the green industry by relaunching landscape construction and commercial maintenance divisions under the Ruppert Landscape banner. Over the next two decades the company expanded to dozens of branches from Georgia to Pennsylvania, earning national recognition for safety, craftsmanship, and employee engagement.

In 2020 Ruppert Properties broadened its reach by establishing Ruppert Management, offering third‑party owners the same rigorous property and asset‑management systems used for its own portfolio.

In 2023, Ruppert Grows was established as a family holding company to support the continued growth and sustainability of the Ruppert enterprises into future generations. The creation of Ruppert Grows formalized the shared services and behind-the-scenes support that had long helped the various Ruppert companies operate with consistency, transparency, and long-term vision.

Today the three sister companies operate independently yet collaborate constantly: Ruppert Nurseries cultivates more than 80,000 trees across 250 varieties; Ruppert Landscape installs and maintains award‑winning environments; and Ruppert Properties—supported by Ruppert Management—acquires, develops, and manages workplaces that showcase horticultural artistry while delivering durable returns for investors. Collectively they employ more than 2,800 people and steward thousands of acres of landscape nationwide.

Philanthropy remains intertwined with growth: the Ruppert Family Foundation channels company success into meaningful support for a myriad of worthy causes. Through its support of other mission-aligned organizations in areas such as childhood wellness, early education, supporting persons with disabilities, and environmental‑stewardship, the Foundation aims to directly improve the lives of individuals and families, and strengthen the communities where employees live and work.

Across every venture, the values that sprouted in a suburban garage—hard work, integrity, and a relentless commitment to people—continue to guide the organization. Five decades in, the mission is unchanged: build exceptional places, nurture relationships, and leave every project, property, and community better than the day before.