R&D Landscape Anchors New Green Summit Landscape Group Platform

What happened

Century Park Capital Partners launched Green Summit Landscape Group, a new landscape platform, with the acquisition of R&D Landscape, a mid-Michigan landscaping company that serves as Green Summit's initial platform investment. The April 21, 2026 announcement also disclosed Green Summit's second acquisition, LandMark Landscape, another mid-Michigan company. Century Park did not announce a price for either acquisition.

The seller

Russ Thorn and Doug Reaves started R&D Landscape in 2001. Friends since first grade, they worked together at a landscape nursery in high school and earned horticulture degrees at Michigan State University before opening their own company. In 2010 R&D bought Bonnie View Golf Course in Eaton Rapids and moved its office into the upper level of the clubhouse, and the course now doubles as a showcase for the company's work. Clay Carstensen is chief executive.

R&D does design and installation, hardscapes and outdoor living, maintenance, irrigation, lawn and fertilizer programs, and snow plowing and de-icing, for homes, commercial properties and HOA communities across Ingham, Eaton and Clinton counties. Century Park describes its client base as commercial companies and luxury residential customers.

R&D's founders and leadership team retained meaningful ownership and continue to lead the business. "We found a partner that understood what we've built at R&D and respected the people and legacy behind it," Carstensen said.

The buyer

Green Summit was formed to build a full-service landscape, snow and water management organization in the United States. Century Park, a Los Angeles private equity firm founded in 2000, invests in family businesses, owner-operated firms and corporate divestitures. It first announced Green Summit's formation on November 18, 2025, alongside a first acquisition it did not name, and said Plexus Capital and GMB Capital Partners joined it in forming the platform. Judy Guido, a Green Industry Hall of Famer, is Green Summit's chairwoman. Calfee advised Century Park on the transactions.

LandMark, based in Haslett, grew out of Wells Lawn Care, a lawn maintenance and snow plowing business that Mark Engstrom joined in 1983 and later bought outright, renaming it LandMark in 1993. It now provides maintenance, irrigation, design and snow management to residential and commercial customers. "Bringing LandMark into Green Summit is exciting because they're a local company that shares our values and commitment to customers, employees, and the community," Thorn said. Nat Bacon, a Century Park principal, said the investment "demonstrates our commitment to the Michigan and Midwest markets."

What this means for landscaping owners

Green Summit's first add-on is adding density to its existing footprint. For a landscaping owner in Ingham, Eaton or Clinton county, the private equity buyer in the market is now led by the people behind a local competitor. Carstensen, Thorn and Reaves are Green Summit's operating leadership, and they stayed invested in R&D when it sold. Owners sizing up that kind of approach can start with our guide on selling a landscaping business to private equity.

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 Michigan.

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Source: Century Park Capital Partners - https://centuryparkcapital.com/2026/04/21/century-park-backed-green-summit-landscape-group-acquires-two-elite-landscape-leaders/