Ares-Backed Landscape Workshop Acquires Landcrafters' Commercial Arm

What happened

Landscape Workshop, a commercial grounds management company based in Birmingham, Alabama, announced on May 11, 2026, that it had acquired Landcrafters, Inc., a landscape company in Pinellas Park, Florida, that serves the Tampa Bay area. The business Landscape Workshop took on is Landcrafters' commercial division; the residential division has created a new brand, Salt & Soil Garden Co. Michael Tomaino, who held the title of Head Gardener at Landcrafters, has joined Landscape Workshop as general manager, and Landcrafters' commercial operations team will continue to lead the commercial business locally. Stuart Maxey, Butler Sparks and Ben Glicklich of Bradley Arant served as legal counsel to Landscape Workshop, and Kevin Hoffmeyer of AEGIS Law represented Landcrafters. The announcement did not state a price or other terms.

The seller

Landcrafters has worked in Tampa Bay since 1998. It built its business on landscape maintenance and enhancements for homeowners in the Tampa Bay and Clearwater area, alongside a growing portfolio of community associations and commercial properties. The commercial work covers landscape maintenance, enhancements, irrigation, plant health care, and design and installation, including large palm and tree installation, for property managers, community associations, apartment communities and commercial properties across Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco, Sarasota and Manatee counties.

Salt & Soil Garden Co. now carries the residential side, offering landscape maintenance, planting and irrigation to Tampa Bay homeowners. Tomaino described what the deal means for the commercial team: "Our commercial team will continue leading the business locally, and Landscape Workshop gives us a broader platform, deeper resources, and more opportunity to expand while continuing to deliver for our customers."

The buyer

Landscape Workshop has maintained commercial properties since 1984. An Ares Private Equity fund acquired a majority stake in the company in May 2025, succeeding Carousel Capital, which had backed it for the previous five years. At that closing Landscape Workshop reported 38 locations across the Southeast. By this announcement it operated from more than 50 locations across 14 states, reaching from Maryland and Virginia west to Kansas and Missouri.

CEO J.T. Price said the quality of Landcrafters' services "and the strength of the customer relationships stood out to us," and that the company is "pleased to continue to position Landscape Workshop as the acquirer of choice for commercial landscape business owners."

How Landscape Workshop has bought in Tampa Bay

Landcrafters is not Landscape Workshop's first Tampa deal. In January 2025, before the Ares investment, it acquired the commercial landscaping operations of All American Lawn & Tree Specialist and described that transaction as its fourth acquisition in the Tampa area. All American continued to serve its residential properties under its existing name. Owners weighing a sale to a sponsor-backed platform like this one can read our guide to selling a landscaping business to private equity.

What this means for Tampa Bay landscaping owners

In both Tampa deals on this page, Landscape Workshop bought the commercial business and the homeowner work stayed outside it, under the seller's existing name in one case and a new brand in the other. That is a pattern an owner can plan around.For owners whose book mix residential and commercial accounts, the residential side is a question to settle before the first buyer conversation rather than in diligence: what it is worth on its own, who will run it, and whether it is part of what is being sold.

OffDeal is an advisory firm that helps lower-middle-market business owners sell with confidence. Reach out to learn more about our expertise with landscaping businesses in Florida.

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Source: Landscape Workshop - https://landscapeworkshop.com/landscaping-blog/landscape-workshop-acquires-landcrafters-inc/