Columbus-Area Buckeye Landscape Service Joins Exscape Group Platform

What happened

Exscape Group, a Cleveland-based landscape platform, announced a new partnership with Buckeye Landscape Service on March 27, 2026. Buckeye serves commercial and residential properties in the Columbus area. "We're proud to welcome Matthew Esterer and the Buckeye team into Exscape Group," said Bill Dysert, Exscape's chief executive. The release described the deal only as a partnership and did not say what stake, if any, changed hands. The announcement did not disclose financial terms.

The company

Buckeye grew from a one-man operation into a third-generation business based in Blacklick, Ohio. It serves properties in Columbus, Dublin, and New Albany with landscape maintenance, design, installation, and construction, along with irrigation, drainage, and around-the-clock snow and ice removal. Its team averages more than 15 years with the company, and several employees have been there for more than 30. Buckeye is a member of NAIOP, the commercial real estate development association, and of the Snow & Ice Management Association.

Esterer, Buckeye's owner, said the partnership "gives us the opportunity to build on that foundation, invest in our people, and continue delivering the high level of service our customers have come to expect." Buckeye Landscape Service continues under its own name as one of Exscape's Columbus East brands.

The buyer

Exscape Group was formed in June 2025, when two Northeast Ohio companies, Exscape Designs and Green Impressions, combined under a new parent with a significant investment from BHMS Investments, a private investment firm in Westport, Connecticut, founded in 2010. Dysert, who owned Exscape Designs, became chief executive. BHMS principal Matthew Mendenhall said at the time that landscape maintenance had "considerable runway for aggregation." The platform provides its companies with centralized IT, HR, payroll, marketing, and risk management.

Exscape entered Columbus in December 2025 by acquiring three area companies at once, among them WinnScapes. All three founding owners stayed on as operating leaders. Dysert said the Buckeye partnership is about "honoring the legacy Buckeye built while strengthening it with the resources, support, and the long-term vision of our platform." Exscape provides landscape maintenance, design, installation, and snow removal, and reports more than 250 employees across Ohio.

What this means for landscaping owners

About three months after arriving in Columbus, Exscape put a third-generation maintenance and snow operation beside WinnScapes in its Columbus East market, with its other two December acquisitions on the west side. For Central Ohio owners, this BHMS-backed buyer is now also a local competitor, running brands on both sides of the city. The same platform announced its December deals as acquisitions and this one as a partnership, so the word on the release says little about the structure behind it. An owner approached by a platform like this should ask early what "partnership" means in equity, control, and the owner's own role after closing. Our guide on selling a landscaping business to private equity covers the questions worth settling first.

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Source: PR Newswire - https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/exscape-group-announces-new-partnership-with-buckeye-landscape-service-302727638.html