'Seasonal Changes' Weathers 15 Years and Tough Economy

“The secret to my success is, I love the customers and that’s a big thing,” said Gambrills resident Tom Eckert.

The Seasonal Changes owner started his landscaping company in 1996 with $200. This year the company is marking 15 years operating from Eckert’s Gambrills home along Route 3.

Seasonal Changes has grow from lawn care and grounds maintenance to digital designs, watering services,  planting, transplants and snow removal.

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Eckert credits his business longevity to close relationships with his customers.

“I like to make them my friends. To me, everybody has something to teach somebody,” Eckert said.

“When they sign up to give me their lawn, their lawn basically becomes mine," he said. "I just need them to water the turf and plants.”

Seasonal Changes has 13 seasonal workers and four full-time managers.

“When you find a great worker, you want them to stay around,” Eckert said.

The company is marking the 15th anniversary with 15 percent off mowing and lawn care combined contracts signed in April and May. Eckert offers this discount at a time when families are struggling financially.

“About eight or nine years ago, the economy started to get really bad,” Eckert said. That’s when Seasonal Changes added foreclosure cleaning to their services.

“It wasn’t something that I wanted to excel at, but it did give us something else to do around here while the business was bad,” he said.

Eckert said he wants to keep his business close to home.

“I really just want to grow locally. I don’t want to be a gigantic company,” said Eckert.

Most of his clientele is within a 30-minute radius of Crofton. He said developing customer loyalty along a street or cul-de-sac can help homeowners get lower landscaping rates.

“Where I have a customer, I can focus on the folks on that street. Then, I can bring the prices down for everybody since I don’t have to go anywhere else,” said Eckert.