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ak Park-based entrepreneur Sruli (Michael) 
Klein, 28, founder and CEO of Capital 
Landscapes, is no stranger to launching 
and expanding companies. The Farber Hebrew Day 
School graduate launched his first landscape compa-
ny “Mow on the Go” at age 14.
“I knew nothing about mowing lawns,
” he recalls. 
“But I had a push mower, and I would just figure it 
out.
”
By the time he was 17, he had three landscaping 
trucks to his name and five people working for him 
full time. Klein, who also owns Klein’s Rentals (a 
kosher traveling rental service), eventually grew the 
company to a multi-million-dollar business before 
selling the brand in 2017.
During this time, he moved on to launch 
Emergency Response Services Inc., a property res-
toration company that he sold in 2020. Yet Mow 
on the Go was always on the back of his mind, and 
when Klein received a call from the then-owner to 
help him restore the business, which had fallen apart 
with poor customer service, Klein offered to buy it 
back.
In November 2022, Klein purchased Mow on the 

Go and rebranded it to Capital Landscapes. “The 
business had fallen apart, and they lost every cus-
tomer,
” Klein explains. “I rebranded and kept one 
employee.
” 
In just two years, the business has gone from zero 
customers to 17 vehicles in Klein’s fleet, as well as 32 
people that work for him full-time under the new 
name.
The business expansion was made possible with 
Hebrew Free Loan’s Marvin I. Danto Small Business 
Loan, which granted Capital Landscapes $100,000 to 
grow the company.

FROM STANDARD LANDSCAPING 
TO LUXURY DESIGN
Capital Landscapes now services most of the Metro 
Detroit area from as far south as Detroit to as far 
north as Bloomfield Hills, then as east as Warren 
and as west as Northville.
Klein decided to go beyond standard landscap-
ing services. By expanding the service offerings, 
he transformed Capital Landscapes to a full-size 
landscape design firm that specializes in creating 
everything from simple to luxurious outdoor envi-

ronments.
“We build high-end landscapes for several hun-
dred-thousand dollars each, and we also do com-
mercial landscaping where we build massive retain-
ing walls and fountains,
” he explains.
In the winter months, Capital Landscapes also 
offers residential and commercial snow removal.
Still, it wasn’t an easy journey to get the business 
to where it is today. In its early years as Mow on the 
Go, Klein regularly clocked 60-to-70 hours per week 
growing the business. He also had to navigate bring-
ing a business back to life that had essentially been 
run into the ground.
To rebuild the brand, Klein focused on what ini-
tially made it successful: great customer service.
“Customer service is the biggest thing in land-
scaping,
” he says. “I learned that most people don’t 
really care what company mows their grass, plows 
their snow, does their mulch or flowers. It’s really 
about having an effortless relationship and not won-
dering if a company will show up this week.
”
Yet at the basics is one guiding principle: “honest, 
quality work,
” Klein explains.
“We’re always communicating with people,
” Klein 
says. “When someone calls, we answer. We call them 
back.
” 

Learn more at caplandscapes.com.

A Go-Getter to Get Your 
Landscape in Shape

Energetic entrepeneur transforms “Mow on the Go” 
into the full-service company “Capital Landscapes.”

ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

BUSINESS

Michael 
Klein

LEFT: A landscape 
created by Capital 
Landscapes.

