Industry Leader: From The Ground Up

Industry Leader: From The Ground Up

Tommy Aiello’s Lifelong Passion For Landscaping

Tommy Aiello’s love for the outdoors and nature were evident from an early age. As a kid, he would visit his grandparents during the summer months in south Jersey, where his grandfather instilled in him a passion for growing, planting and appreciating a job well done. He first learned how to mow a lawn by pushing an old Toro, long before selfpropelled machines were even available. Despite the work being hard, especially for an eight-year-old kid, his grandfather reminded him that “when you are done, you should pull up a chair, have a lemonade and appreciate what you did.” These words of wisdom have remained with Tommy throughout his life, and the memories he made during those summer visits would eventually lead him to a very successful career in the landscaping industry.

After his family moved to a golf course community in Severna Park, Maryland, in 1966, Tommy started working as a caddy and developed a love for the game. Some of the clients he regularly caddied for soon asked him to start mowing their yards as a side job. Although the mowing jobs provided him extra income, golf continued to be what life revolved around and where he thought his future would lead.

After a stint in college, Tommy had the realization that it was time to get a “real job,” since professional golf wasn’t going to pan out. With no industry experience, he ended up landing a residential design position at a local mom-and-pop garden center. He quickly learned the ropes out in the field, taking five or six calls a day. Eventually, Tommy knew it was time to move on. He was ready for new challenges and a warmer climate.

In Jupiter, Florida, an old friend of Tommy’s worked at a reputable, wellknown landscape company, so Tommy reached out to the sales manager to see if there were any job openings. In 1984, he interviewed for a position and soon after, he received a formal offer of employment, which he eagerly accepted.

A few years later, at the urging of friends and professional acquaintances, Tommy took a leap of faith and decided to break out on his own. He headed to the local Ford dealership and bought an F250 pickup truck and then went to Home Depot for the essentials like shovels, rakes and wheelbarrows. On September 8, 1994, Aiello Landscape was officially open for business.

In the late 1990s, Aiello Landscape got awarded a commercial job in Vero Beach, Florida, installing landscaping for a large condominium that was under construction. Vero Beach was an hour north of Hobe Sound, where Aiello Landscape was originally housed, so logistically the project was done in phases. In 1999, Tommy decided to open a second location in Vero Beach and relocated his family there in 2004. The Vero Beach office started with just four people in a small warehouse but has continued to grow, now employing 112.

Over the years, Tommy brought on two partners in Vero Beach, Dan Crisafulli and Pete Benedict, and sold his Hobe Sound location to Dan Pedersen in 2018. Dan and Pete handled most of the day-to-day managerial tasks, while Tommy was more of a nuts-and-bolts guy. Although some of his responsibilities required him to work in an office, he was still happiest when he was out in the field getting his hands dirty with the crew.

First Week in Business & First Truck, September 1994

“I like to be out on the job, laying plants out,” says Tommy. “Until recently, if the guys needed help, I would stay out for a few hours and work with them. I just still enjoy that aspect of it.”

While recognizing the blessings associated with the growth of his company, Tommy also had a standard to which he held himself and his employees to. “You can train the horticulture part,” he explains. “To me, character and personality … those were items that were more important to me than whether [an employee] knew what a hibiscus or sago palm was.”

He says his main goal was to maintain his reputation in the industry—a reputation built on providing quality services while maintaining honesty and integrity. One thing that Tommy learned years ago while working for Roy Rood of Rood Landscape was that reputation was more important than the bottom line. “I’d rather break even and maintain my reputation than have a bad reputation and make 10 percent [profit],” he says.

Training Crews in 2000

Over his career, he has had opportunities to work with and interact with the best of the best in the industry, learning skills and tricks of the trade along the way. Legends such as Edward Durell Stone Jr., Dick Brickman and John Grissim have helped mold him into the professional he is today. Tommy recalls that being in the presence of these great men “was like being with Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.”

Outside of running his business, Aiello Landscape has also been involved in the Florida Nursery & Growers Landscape Association since 1984. Holding various positions in the organization over the years, Tommy played an integral part in helping develop the association’s landscape certification program. He feels that the certification program, in addition to contractors having access to business development training, especially in the areas of estimating and accounting, are extremely important to the industry.

“Early on, one of my passions was always raising the bar on professionalism,” Tommy says. He has certainly made good on that promise.

Since technology-oriented careers are now the focus in colleges and universities, horticulture and related fields seem to be losing momentum in recruiting people that are passionate about the field. However, in the last few years, the industry has grown significantly in the use of technology and automation, which means there are new opportunities that aren’t solely based on the labor-intensive, hands-on aspects of the industry. According to Tommy, although much progress has been made in this area, technology will never fully replace the human aspect of bringing landscape designs to life. “[Technology] is never going to be able to pick the plants out for us or go to the nursery and tag the tree,” he says.

It is about finding a balance between the two and inspiring the next generation to see the potential of the industry

The same magic that Tommy discoveredas a kid working in his grandfather’s yardstill motivates him today.

I like taking a bare canvas and creating

he says. “It’s seeing the change and then sitting back and seeing what you created when it’s finished.” Like a work of art isn’t complete until it is framed and put on display, a home becomes the painting and the landscaping, the frame, enhancing the beauty by adding something valuable.

On July 27, 2022, Tommy officially sold his Vero Beach office to Dan Crisafulli and Pete Benedict, knowing it would be left in capable, knowledgeable hands. However, he hasn’t quit working completely. He still clocks 20 hours a week consulting and managing a few landscape projects while watching Dan and Pete carry on the Aiello Landscape tradition.

After a successful career that has spanned several decades, one may assume this isn’t the end of the story for Tommy Aiello. It’s merely the end of a chapter.

(Left to Right) Dick Brickman (90), Tommy Aiello & John Grissm (91)