Virginia Sheep Landscapers Eat Weeds and Steal Hearts

Stephanie Brander had a ravine full of invasive vines taking over her Northern Virginia property, so she did what any practical person would do. She hired sheep.

Brander first spotted the woolly landscaping crew working a July 4 parade in Fairfax City and immediately booked them. When the trailer arrived at her home, she kept her kids out of school just to watch the magic happen.

"It was two hours, and they got more done than I could have in a week," she told NBC4 Washington. "That's pretty awesome. And they were fun to watch."

The flock belongs to Lamb Mowers, a licensed Fairfax County landscaping business run by Cory Suter, better known to customers as Shepherd Cory. His crew consists of Babydoll Southdowns, an heirloom breed that stands knee-high and looks exactly like walking teddy bears.

The business started completely by accident. Suter brought his first three Babydolls up from Illinois in his wife's Prius in 2016 (the car never fully recovered) and put them to work clearing poison ivy and invasive plants around his farm south of Fairfax.

They were so efficient at demolishing weeds that neighbors started asking to rent them. Now a two-hour session starts at $195 on weekdays and $295 on weekends, bringing anywhere from three to fifteen sheep to your yard.

The sheep eat exactly what most homeowners pay chemicals to kill: poison ivy, kudzu, knotweed, Japanese honeysuckle, and all the nasty stuff hiding in forgotten corners. What comes out the other end is natural fertilizer that improves soil quality and water retention.

The flock has names picked by Suter's two young sons, which explains why a professional landscaping animal answers to Monster Truck. There's also Elf, Sunny, and Clover, plus the matriarch Cinnamon, who weighs over 130 pounds at age seven.

Suter has a few rules. He won't bring sheep to yards treated with pesticides in the past six months, and he prefers you don't mow first. If a sheep refuses to board the trailer, that sheep stays home, no exceptions.

Sunny's Take

Beyond clearing weeds, the sheep have become local celebrities. They do "sleepovers" on properties larger than two acres, and they're available for parties, preschool visits, Girl Scout events, and birthdays where the real draw isn't weed removal but the arrival of fifteen fuzzy friends.

"We bring joy everywhere we go," Suter said. "Our sheep are just really friendly, sweet animals that like to say hi to people and just kind of lower your blood pressure when you get to be near them."

Margaret Bain, whose Vienna church hired the flock to clear land, summed up their competitive advantage perfectly: "We could have hired laborers, but the sheep were more cute than anybody we could have brought."

Turns out the best landscaping solution might just be the one that eats your weeds, fertilizes your soil, and makes everyone smile.