MiddletownJournal.com

For All Seasons Landscaping moved from Hanover Township to Fairfield Township four years ago.

Owner John Russo said since the move he's seen an increase in sales every year, especially the last two.

"We've increased at least $100,000 in sales (a year) and we anticipate increasing above and beyond another $100,000 to $150,000 this year, as well," Russo said.

The business offers more than custom landscaping.

"We're a landscape management organization," he said. "We manage either commercial or residential properties."

Customers typically contact Russo to provide landscape installation and maintenance, as well as ground maintenance, including mowing, fertilization and aeration.

The business also installs lighting systems and irrigation systems, he said.

"We give them all the options for them to get their yard looking they way they want it to."

When people first move into a home, they often are on a tighter budget and may only want basic lawn maintenance at first, Russo said. For All Seasons Landscaping sits down with customers and helps them set priorities.

"We just go through the whole list with the customer and find out what they want us to provide to them," he said.

To keep up with customer demand, Russo is planning to lease a two-acre facility off Gilmore Road for the additional storage of nursery stock, landscape products and topsoil mulch.

Movers and shakers

Someone has to move all these folks' belongings. Kenny Mills Sr., president of Hamilton-based Mills Tri-County Moving and Storage said business was relatively static before the development boom in southeastern Butler County.

"It's given us a lot of business," Mills said. "The more houses are built, the more moving jobs we obtain. It just gives us more business and more opportunities."

Even though the business is headquartered on East Avenue, Mills said most of his customers are in West Chester Township.

Greg Hawkins, office manager at Cabinet Supply in Fairfield Township, said he's seeing growth in different areas of the county. Most of his customers, Hawkins said, are between West Chester and Hamilton, but he's also doing business around Oxford.

He estimates that 80 percent of his business is in new construction, up from about 60 percent two years ago.

"Most of our business is new homes," he said. "More people seem to be building new construction than remodeling."

What's in a name?

Dale Magie made a strategic decision to put West Chester in the name of his business when he opened in 1988, despite having a Middletown address.

Now West Chester Lawn & Garden is a booming business, selling lawn care supplies and services to homeowners, home builders and home improvement retailers.

"We anticipated the bulk of our business to come from West Chester, and fortunately we played that off right," Magie said.

About 75 percent of Magie's business comes from Mason and Liberty, West Chester and Deerfield townships, thanks in large part to his central location in Liberty Township less than a mile north of West Chester Township, and only a few miles west of the Butler County line.

As a long-time resident in the fast-growing area, Magie has seen his business prosper from the housing boom.

"Fortunately, we started out in an old farm setting and business has been kind to us, and we attribute that to the growth in this area and the upscale housing that has moved into the market," he said.

Magie said his business no long offers lawn care, as it did when he opened, but he does provide at-home service on lawn care equipment.

In 2003, West Chester Lawn & Garden moved 100 yards into a new, state-of-the-art facility.