We’re Changing the World, One Property at a Time

A decade ago, I (Stan) should have been busy mowing down zombies and hellhounds in Call of Duty, mastering high school drama, or aspiring to be an NBA star. Instead, I spent hours each day building a village, complete with paved roads, homes, lawns, and a supermarket. My 1:64 scale stone home stands abandoned at my parent’s vacant homestead, along with other products of my teenage talent. When I visit those enchanted acres, I find a 250-foot stone path to the treehouse, several ghost garden lots surrounded with piles of broken bedrock, and remnants of an irrigation system that had powered-watered multiple rows of raised vegetable garden beds.

Footpath On The Garden — Lancaster, PA — Paradise Plants & Patios

As my career developed, I realized that my DNA consisted of a deep connection to nature and a vision to create paradise wherever possible. After working up the ranks of a local landscaping company and becoming a foreman, I became dissatisfied when my capacity needed to be stretched.

Upset by the unfairness of heavy capitalism and wanting to point my compass north, I stepped out of the blue-collar world to begin studying theology. After a year of amusing myself with a dog-eat-dog Christian social dynamic in Boston, I became disillusioned again by seeing the incompatibility between religious narratives and the felt needs of working-class America. So, I dropped out of school and moved to my home in Lancaster. I worked as a jack of all trades for my brother until I felt unsettled enough to start doing what I wanted to do. I met with a good friend and discussed what I wanted to do. He was impressed with my vision, and we started hashing through potential names. Through this, Paradise Plants & Patios was born. I submitted my business application in February of 2022.

In March, I began showing off my youthful spunk by pushing wheelbarrows full of dirt in front of an audience of three relatively unskilled employees. Finally, I could start creating paradise, both in the backyards of clients and in the bank accounts of my employees.

Paradise Plants & Patios has had its ups and downs, run by a relatively young and inexperienced business owner. I am in the process of being coached I do not have it all down. But my commitment is there, and I will make your place beautiful for good at all costs. Not a problem. I’ll get it done.

Why Paradise?

An ultimate ideal exists for every society. Every functioning community member spends his or her life trying to find that ideal. For many Americans, this means raising a family and building a net worth while living with as much pleasure as feasible. Everyone has their unique way of finding the balance to this ideal. Unfortunately, some get the balance way off or get trapped in a crippling vice while pursuing pleasure. For instance, many teenagers look for happiness in a substance, relationship, or a lifestyle of consumerism. An excess of these pursuits often leads to stress and poverty, where raising a family well is difficult. Then others get so caught up in their professional pursuits that they have a comfortable net worth but have spent very little time raising their families. We all grow old wishing we would have done some things differently, whether it’s investing time in the ones we love or prioritizing long-term wealth over immediate pleasure. At some level or another, our pursuit of happiness often leaves us growing old without ever living this nuanced ideal.

Everyone deserves a little bit of paradise in their life, and it may as well be right in your backyard. Paradise Plants and Patios’ vision offers a solution that will provide a venue in your backyard to spend quality time in your backyard with the ones you love. The landscaping and improvements will always raise property value, no matter your budget. And it will leave you with decades of lasting memories of pleasure.

The vision behind Paradise Plants and Patios is to help Americans from all walks of life come one step closer to a model of responsibly enjoying nature’s beauty. Humans have always had a knack for messing things up. It might be a medieval conquering army slaughtering and uprooting an entire city in the name of religion, an investor unnecessarily destroying nature and historic landmarks to gain a bit more net worth, or a poverty-stricken social class whose lack of opportunity and vices leave them surrounded by garbage and dysfunction. Since Mother Nature left to itself creates beauty, its inhabitants should be able to experience at least a bit of it in their backyard.

That’s why. So give us a call!

Finally, paradise has been a human ideal for thousands of years. All three of the monotheistic world religions relay the story of Eden: the first couple created by God to live in a beautiful garden in peace and harmony. No sin, no vices, no problems, and a lot of beauty and nature. . . this word picture encapsulates some of the timeless ideals of humanity. And it serves as a platform for our imagination of a potential afterlife. Why not start experiencing heaven now? Why prolong your mundane existence any longer?

Our Values

Integrity

At Paradise Plants & Patios, we make every effort to be 100% honest and ethical. After seeing enough contractors hiding problems, cutting corners, and backing out promises, we feel the only way to conduct ourselves is to follow the Golden Rule. We don’t want anyone to be dishonest or unauthentic to us, so we will never act that way, even when it hurts. We will always fess up to find a fair solution when we make a mistake. We pay our employees fairly, treat every customer respectfully, and keep our language and conduct clean.

Equality

Everyone bleeds the same, no matter their social class, race, or creed. Our goal is to treat everyone with dignity and respect, whether they have a different demeanor, have made poor choices, or have little access to privileges. We promote our employees based on solid metrics, not an arbitrary association or preferred personality. Further, we feel that we, as blue-collar workers, can learn a lot from the professional white-collar world and vice versa. Yes, we mind our own business, but we don’t mind hearing a few stories about your grandpa or being licked by your squirrely dog.

Teamwork

Paradise Plants and Patios is a better place for show-offs. Everyone on our team has a valuable role to play, and we do our best to nurture the talents of each of our employees. If a member displays an inflated ego that cannot be corrected, they must find work elsewhere. The management team is always open for corrective criticism and is happy to talk with any employee who feels they have been mistreated. If an employee must take time off, the rest of the team will step up to keep promises. Finally, we facilitate periodical team-building events such as dinners, seminars, and trade shows.

Availability

Since the pandemic, many businesses have been tough to reach. And the reachable ones are booked so far that work must be postponed until next season. At Paradise Plants and Patios, we book our jobs loosely enough that an urgent need can be dealt with if necessary. Currently, Stan is the primary contact and does his best always to have time for phone calls. We plan to keep this connection in our DNA, where multiple phone transfers and voicemails are not part of the picture.

Growth

Many businesses need help to handle growth due to a fumbling of fundamental functions. Paradise Plants & Patios has made many of these same mistakes, but we are determined to learn from them. Projections, planning, and training are some of our highest priorities. We want to grow solidly, not position ourselves for collapse by growing weak on other values. By receiving coaching from multiple mentors and learning from various experts, we dream big and put processes in place to make our dreams come true.

Our Team

Standard Boisen, Owner.

“I can be found most every Friday night busking and connecting with the community in the Lancaster town square. I’ll have coffee with one of my good friends, build a custom kitchen in my motorhome or renovate a room in my house. I enjoy a lively Bible study with church folks or having coffee with one of my friends or mentors. I’ll also tear my floor down with some gospel piano playing accompanied by a solo croaking hillbilly voice. And I love social tips, which are necessary since I was raised with a good dose of hillbilly.😊”