AZCO Landscape & Maintenance has been beautifying Fountain Hills yards for a while now but, last year, the business changed ownership to Kristian Hill.

Hill is no stranger to landscaping, as he’s been in the trade since 2005. He said he enjoys being outside, especially when he’s designing and maintaining his projects.

“I love the outdoors in general, so I’ve always been drawn to doing landscape,” he said. His business is an all-in-one for projects including landscape design and installation, irrigation installation and repair and professional tree care. Continuing service can be scheduled monthly, bi-monthly or quarterly.

“We can essentially do all aspects of landscape,” Hill said. “Anything outdoors, whether it’s hardscape, softscape or whatever it might be, we can handle it.”

The bulk of Hill’s work takes place within the Fountain Hills community about a year ago, he decided that it was time to own his own business caring for the community’s various outdoor needs.

“I got to know the seller of AZCO and, more than anything, I was drawn to working here in Fountain Hills,” Hill said. “I like the area, I like the people and I like the community. So I met the previous owner by happenstance, who was planning to retire, so we had some conversations, I acquired his clientele and off we go.”

Unaware that the COVID-19 pandemic was about to hit just as he was taking over, Hill’s business venture could have taken a turn for the worse. He said he considers himself fortunate, however, as landscaping is one of those industries that did not take a major hit from the past year’s events.

“Fortunately for the landscape business, the past year has actually gone pretty well,” Hill said. “I think the reason for that is that a lot of people who stayed home decided to address some of the needs they’ve been wanting to do around their home. So we were able to stay busy while still staying socially distanced and outside.

“People still had to repair leaks and do general maintenance on their property, too. So it wasn’t a crazy boom for the business, but things stayed steady as everybody kept us working on their property.”

Hill said he plans to grow the business, but that will happen naturally. As the job grows, he aims to bring on additional personnel to keep up with the needs of the community.

“It’s not like I’m trying to quadruple in size over the next 12 months,” he jokes. “Slow and steady leads the race, as they say. More than anything, I want to just keep customers happy and keep providing good customer service. Reliable, affordable work, to me, is the name of the game. It keeps everybody happy and keeps work coming.”

Hill said he is very hands-on with his projects and, because of his focus on the Fountain Hills community, he’s usually available to get the ball rolling quickly.

“More than anything, I take a lot of pride in our work,” Hill continued. “I don’t want to be the turn and burn, in and out kind of landscaper. I’ll spend a little more time to make sure the job is done well and the customer is pleased and enjoys the results.”

Hill said he hopes anyone looking for landscape work will reach out and give AZCO a chance to impress.

“We’ll do a great job at a fair price,” he said.

For more information on AZCO Landscape & Maintenance, visit azco.us. Hill can be reached via phone at 480-352-1054 or via email at kristian@azco.us.