If anyone in this city understands what “work ethic” means, it’s Aaron Osswald, who is the owner of the recently renamed company, ARO Landscaping, located in Brookville. Not only is the young Osswald an ambitious entrepreneur, he has two great strengths going for him as he lines up his own spring landscaping jobs. First of all, he purchased the business from Lloyd Denlinger, who owned and operated Denlinger Landscaping for many years and he also began working with Denlinger 10 years ago, learning the skills for the trade from the bottom up.

            “I began my apprenticeship with Lloyd Denlinger at 12 years of age,” said Osswald, who is 22 and the son of Jim and Becky Osswald. “Four older siblings had been paid apprentices, but they all moved, so I am the only one still in the landscaping business.” “I bought the business from Mr. Denlinger, who is my dad’s first cousin, in early 2017. ARO Landscaping is the official name of the company now,” he said.

            Osswald said that since winter is still here, he and his crew had been holding off planting installations, but that is now under way. By now, with spring starting, the work has begun in earnest. “Trees are removed in the wintertime, so we have been taking down silver maples and ash trees,” Osswald said. “There’s a range of estimates from $400 to $1200 to remove a tree.”

            Osswald clearly enjoys what he is doing as his life’s work. “The biggest highlights for me are working with residential customers and the personnel, and also the face-to-face interaction. Having the opportunity to work with family is uplifting, too.”

            Osswald knows that people understand the standards of his operation. “For instance, we take pride in employing people who are ex-military, people who have served our country. We train them, if necessary, through on-the-job training, on things like plant depth or choosing different trees or shrubs,” Osswald said. “People understand that our standards are a step up. I usually decide what should be planted and where,” he said.

            Anyone who stopped by the beautifully appointed Denlinger Landscaping booth at last summer’s Brookville Community Picnic, designed by Osswald, could attest to the quality of his artistic skills. More attractive examples of Osswald’s completed projects and photos of team members can be seen at the company’s website at www.arolandscaping.com.

“We offer mulching services, plant installation, tree and shrub removal, patio and wall installations, yard renovation, and firewood,” Osswald said. “We’re hoping to get into water features and snow removal at a later time,” he added.

            Osswald, who is the son of Jim and Becky Osswald, said he often gets new clients while they observe him and his crews working on a job. “That extenuates the need for your staff to have a [clean] worksite appearance and appear approachable to talk with,” he said.

They say behind every successful man there is often a woman, and at ARO, Osswald’s wife Rachel, 25, who hails from New Madison, handles the administrative side of the business. The family also has a black cat named Stark (after an [Avenger’s] character).

             For Osswald, it’s not always all work and no play. Working outside can be fun, Osswald says. He likes to tell a story that made his day while working on a project in Vandalia. “We were working on a residential project and it was beginning to be dusk. I turned to one of my coworkers and said, ‘I smell goats!’. We stood up from what we were doing and then we saw them – 10 to 15 big, black and white goats wandering over the hillside. I grew up on a dairy farm so I know what goats smell like! I still don’t know what they were doing there.”

             Osswald invites people to visit the website, which shows some of the Osswald’s projects and photos of team members. For more information about ARO Landscaping, call 937-770-4077.