Severna Park Middle Student Grows Community Landscaping Business

Carson Viskocil, an eighth-grader at Severna Park Middle School, has been making some extra money by helping to beautify his community with his own landscaping business, Prime Lawn and Landscape.

It started when Carson was 9 years old with a two-day leaf-blowing job that he completed with his older brother, Joey, his neighbor Jack Queen, and Jack’s older brother, Michael.

Although Joey and Michael have since stopped doing landscaping projects, Carson and Jack have continued to take new projects around the Shipley’s Choice area. They work with two other eighth-graders, Chase Vican and Davis Deagan, for a team of four.

Carson’s dad helped with supplies for the first jobs.

“My dad bought me and my brother a corded leaf blower and I just started using it,” said 14-year-old Carson. “I really liked it, and I liked the idea of getting money from it. Even though I only got 10 or so bucks from it, I still got the thrill from it.”

He was drawn to landscaping, in part, by the fact that it was a service that wouldn’t easily be automated. “I noticed that the need for landscaping was there, and that (artificial intelligence) can’t necessarily fix landscaping,” Carson said.

He also enjoys being able to visibly impact his community in a positive way.

“I just like seeing people’s faces when they see the work that I’ve done and how happy they are,” he said.

Over time, Carson has expanded the business.

“I saved up the money that I got from leaf blowing with the leaf blower that my dad got me, and I was able to save enough from that and birthdays that I had enough to buy a push mower,” he shared.

In his first year, Carson had two customers. To get more work, he has used various strategies.

“At first, I started just going door-to-door knocking,” Carson explained. “Then, I got business cards and business flyers, like door tags, and that worked all right. Then, my mom just posted about it on Facebook and that did really good.”

Carson has since done landscaping projects for 83 customers and gets jobs mostly through Facebook. He has also expanded the kinds of projects that he offers.

“We offer mowing, weed pulling, leaf blowing, mulch application, bush trimming, kind of whatever you need,” Carson said.

He gave the business its name after two other name ideas, Perfect Lawns and Premium Lawn, didn’t quite fit.

It can be a struggle to fit his landscaping jobs into an already busy schedule, especially as his business has grown. Along with the commitments of his business and his schoolwork, Carson also plays three sports.

“I don’t want to take too much work on and leave a customer stranded, so I do kind of limit myself there,” Carson said.

At the end of 2024, Carson upgraded to a riding lawnmower. He’s looking to hire more employees and add more tools in the future to be able to take a wider variety of jobs. He also wants to get into hardscaping to work on the various man-made features in his community.

He’s even thinking about long-term goals for the business for when he can drive.

“I’m waiting for my first truck or car to get a trailer because then I can expand my business pretty big,” Carson said.

Working for four years as a landscaper in his community has underscored the benefits of a good job.

“If you do the work well, customers will come,” Carson explained. “You’ll get most of your work from being at the job in person and people walking by, driving by, will see. People will always want to support a young kid working.”