Jersey Shore college buddies started mowing lawns. Now they have 400 workers in 6 states

JACKSON - Though they grew up an hour apart in Middlesex County and Ocean County, respectively, Bill Merkler and Walt Bostian both shared a love of nature and the dream of someday running a business that involved the outdoors.

And in 1985, they brought that vision to reality by launching Down to Earth Landscaping, a Jackson-based provider of landscape design services that’s been transforming properties for nearly 40 years.

Growing up in the Colonia section of Woodbridge and moving to Wall with his family when he was 18, “I started cutting lawns in my neighborhood during the summer when I was 12 and really enjoyed being outside,” recalled Merkler, now a 56-year-old Belmar resident.

A native of Toms River, “I loved being outdoors as a kid as well and remember being influenced by a couple of friends’ fathers, who were successful businessmen,” said Bostian, 57, now a Neptune resident.

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The two met on their first day at Stockton College (now Stockton University) in Galloway, where Merkler majored in criminal justice and Bostian majored in finance, and were great friends from the start.

“Back when we started college in the mid-'80s, a lot of Stockton students used to go home on the weekends, and since I lived in Wall and Walt lived in Toms River, I used to drop him off on Fridays on my way home and then pick him up on Sundays,” Merkler said. “My chore at home was cutting the grass and a lot of other neighbors started asking me to mow their lawns too. After a few weeks, I was looking for some help and asked Walt if he wanted to start a business with me that summer.”

“I was looking for a job and needed the money to buy a pickup truck, so it all kind of clicked,” Bostian said.

Calling themselves Down to Earth Landscaping (the name Merkler had chosen for his own venture as a teen), the two launched their business in 1985.

“During college, we started out working on Saturdays only, but then expanded to two to three days a week, and then we started scheduling classes around the business,” laughed Merkler of their fledgling company, which gained ground thanks to flyers they circulated and positive word of mouth.

By their senior year, “we realized that we were doing something we loved and making more money than we would have as the law enforcement and accounting professionals we’d originally aspired to be and decided to pursue the business full-time.”

After graduation, “Walt and I shared a rental apartment in Neptune that my parents owned, and it served as our first office,” Merkler said. But with the entire Shore area growing in the 1990s and a business that was “booming,” “we moved to a five-acre property in Howell for several years, then outgrew that space and moved to our current location in Jackson in 2000.”

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Vacations in your backyard

Today, from a 100-acre property that houses a garage, warehouse, office space and their sister company Ocean Wholesale & Nursery (which supplies Down to Earth as well as outside contractors with plant material), “we’re a design-and-build firm that does everything from landscape design to hardscaping, outdoor kitchens and more,” Merkler said. “We now have 240 trucks, nearly 400 employees, and serve residential and commercial customers throughout New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia.”

“Our residential designers will meet with clients at their home, discuss their needs and recommend the best solution for their property; they’ll then design it to the client’s satisfaction and install it,” Merkler said of projects that include the design and construction of outdoor patios, fireplaces, firepits, kitchens, pool areas, cutting and vegetable gardens, retaining and decorative walls, and veneers.

Among recent projects, “we received a 2023 New Jersey Nursery & Landscape Association ‘Excellence Award’ for our work at a client’s home in Belmar, where we designed and installed all of the sitting areas around their pool as well as an outdoor kitchen and a full sand volleyball court,” Merkler said. “Our projects often range from $20,000 to $700,000 based on their size and complexity, but we can work within anyone’s budget.”

“We also maintain landscaping for commercial spaces such as shopping centers and malls,” Bostian added. “Among other clients, we currently service Jersey Shore Premium Outlets in Tinton Falls, Jackson Premium Outlets in Jackson and the Ocean County Mall in Toms River.”

Merkler confirmed that investments in outdoor living spaces have taken off, especially since the pandemic, as homeowners have increasingly embraced the opportunity to “promote family time and go on a vacation in their backyard.”

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Among current trends, “once-small firepits have evolved into elaborate fireplaces, and outdoor kitchens featuring refrigerators, TVs and full-scale grills that do it all are extremely popular today,” Merkler said.

As for challenges, Merkler confirmed that labor costs have skyrocketed and that finding candidates who are skilled and willing to work can be difficult, but he credits Down to Earth’s success to the extensive training and hands-on knowledge the company provides to people coming on board.

“Our success is a function of our great employees, many of whom have been with us for decades, and training and safety are our highest priorities,” he said. “We always work to position our employees for success.”

While inclement weather poses another challenge to their operations, Merkler and Bostian address that through a diversified portfolio of customers and projects.

“We work for a lot of national homebuilders and commercial developers who are closing homes year-round, so we’re laying sod and installing irrigation 12 months a year,” Bostian explained. “In the winter, we also plow snow to keep our teams busy.”

'Like a brother to me'

Looking ahead, “there are other states we’d like to serve along the East Coast and we hope to open satellite offices from Rhode Island to Georgia in the next five years,” Merkler said. “We also just received approval to expand our 4,000-square-foot office in Jackson by an additional 12,000 square feet, which will be completed in 2025.”

One company value that’s remained intact over Down to Earth’s four decades is their commitment to giving back.

“We were recently contacted about sprucing up Pyanoe Plaza in Belmar and we realized that there was no better way to celebrate Earth Day than to show our appreciation to the community,” said Merkler of the full range of materials and services Down to Earth Landscaping donated to the project. “Our designer Rusty Bell created a layout with plants and flowers that will bloom at different times throughout the spring and summer, which will make it a great experience for visitors.”

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With Merkler running the company’s landscape construction division and Bostian overseeing their grounds maintenance operations, the two couldn’t be more in sync.

“Walt has been like a brother to me, and while we allow each other to stay in our own lanes, we’re always working collaboratively to make Down to Earth even better,” Merkler said.

Similarly, he added, “we allow our employees to show us how to make things better as a company and family. We truly couldn’t do this without our incredible team, and we always make a point to ensure that everyone is heard and that we’re all working together towards the same goal.”

As a full-service firm that designs, installs and maintains, “we’re a one-stop shop and hope to continue providing the highest quality services throughout the East Coast and building a happy family of both employees and clients,” Merkler said.

“Visiting our many sites and seeing them looking horticulturally pristine and beautifully maintained is a real source of pride,” Bostian confirmed.

Merkler agreed.

“Every day, I get to see homes that we’ve been able to enhance dramatically, along with their happy homeowners,” Merkler said, “and that’s extremely rewarding.”

Down to Earth Landscaping

Location: 705 Wright Debow Road, Jackson

Phone: 732-833-7702

Founders/owners: Bill Merkler and Walt Bostian

Founded: 1985

Website: www.downtoearthlandscaping.com

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Jersey Shore college buddies started mowing lawns. Now they have 400 workers in 6 states