BLOOMSBURG, Pa. — It's a familiar sign of spring at this home in Bloomsburg -- landscapers hard at work planting, drilling, and sprucing up the yard.
"This is the time of year things pick up. We have a really busy spring ahead of us, so we've actually been on the fence as to whether we should keep going or just stop," said Justin Ulanoski, Native Creations Landscape Services.
Landscaping services are on the state's list of life-sustaining businesses that are allowed to stay open during the pandemic. But Justin Ulanoski, president of Native Creations Landscape Services, says the business did close down for a week at the end of March while they decided what to do.
"The more we thought about it, we decided to keep moving as long as can by taking extra precautions," Ulanoski said. "This just seems the way to go because it's keeping our customers happy, and in times like this, I think that's kind of what we need."
To limit contact between the employees, Native Creations has implemented a "one man, one truck" policy. Three landscapers at work on this yard means three trucks outside.
The landscaping company is asking customers to contact them through Facetime or a phone call if they have any questions, rather than coming outside.
Ulanoski says the coronavirus has not slowed down business.
"Not for us. It's actually been increasing, and with the early spring, we also do a lot of conservation work and invasive control work. So that stuff is actually going to start up earlier this year, so we're kind of happy to get this early jump on things so we can plan for that."
The guys at Native Creations are also planting blueberries here, so with any luck, the family who lives in this house will have their own fruit supply in a couple of months, maybe even saving them a trip to the grocery store.
The crew here hopes that by adding some natural beauty to their customers' homes, it'll brighten their days spent there even just a little.