Lay of the land

Landscaping professionals weigh in on effects of mild winter, current crisis

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At a moment of social distancing and profound uncertainty, thoughts of the spring and summer to come can provide a needed respite for anxious Rhode Islanders.

After an unusually mild and snow-free winter, many local landscaping and home improvement companies have already gotten a head start on a range of projects. And while the current crisis has clouded the economic outlook, life – and the work of maintaining properties – goes on.

Randy Bodick’s Fresh Perspective Landscaping provides junk removal and landscaping services in the communities of Warwick, Cranston, Coventry and West Warwick, among others. After more than a decade in the landscaping business, Bodick decided to open his own operation last year and enjoyed a “very good” first season.

“Everything’s going very well,” he said.

Fresh Perspective covers everything from the “smallest job you can imagine to big-ticket projects,” Bodick said. While junk removal projects such as home and business clean-outs have been the focus during the landscaping off-season, both services are provided on a full-time basis.

Landscaping work is already well underway, Bodick said, and “we had an amazing week last week.” From that perspective, the “mild winter helped me out a lot,” he added.

Landscaping season typically gets into full swing in mid-April. While a couple of projects have been postponed due to coronavirus uncertainty, he expects continued business from customers looking to maintain and upgrade their properties.

“People aren’t out in their backyards on the weekends yet,” he said, adding: “We try to provide the absolute best grade of work that we physically can, and we try to keep prices affordable.”

For Mike Saccoccia at Coventry-based Saccoccia’s Construction & Landscaping, mowing lawns and maintaining landscapes began in his teenage years and led to the creation of what has become a successful, and diversified, business.

“We’re really kind of a one-stop shop,” he said.

Since those early days working alone, Saccoccia’s business has grown to include 18 employees. It provides everything from basic landscaping to landscaping construction, site work and even home building services – “anything you want to do on the outside.”

“It’s really grown from where it was to where it is,” he said, noting that the business largely serves the state’s West Bay.

The company’s website adds: “Today, Saccoccia’s is a full service company offering the convenience of a single point of contact for an entire project from start to finish.”

In terms of the current health crisis, Saccoccia said he has yet to see a dramatic effect on his business. The current schedule, in fact, is so full that he doubts he could handle another major project for 2020, although services like landscaping or septic work can always be fit in.

“We started early because the weather’s been nice … We haven’t seen any fallout yet from any customers,” he said.

Saccoccia said the diverse range of services his business offers helps it weather changes in the economic climate. He also noted that he is a partner in a real estate company currently working on a commercial development in Coventry, which has provided steady work for Saccoccia Construction & Landscaping.

“We’re kind of generating our own work…we’re kind of able to write our own future,” he said.

He added: “We’re self-sufficient. I wanted to be able to be versatile with what we do…Driving a car is no different than driving a business. You’ve got to know when to shift gears.”

To learn more about Fresh Perspective Landscaping, check out its Facebook page or call 639-7214.

To learn more about Saccoccia’s Construction & Landscaping, visit saccoccias.com or call 439-5005.