Granted, you can only fit so many words on a business card without resorting to some unreadable, six-point font that more closely resembles ant scratches than letters and words, but the following word — landscaping — doesn’t by itself do justice in describing the complete and year-round services offered by the nearly three-year-old company at 951 W. Plaza St.

Dick Rocklin, now “retired” from Innovance, and his daughter Lisa Prihoda and son-in-law Shaun Prihoda have built Plaza Landscaping into so much more than the name conveys. For instance, November and December the store next to Freeborn Lumber along Interstate 90 in Albert Lea is not sitting empty collecting dust, but actually a popular place to buy home décor or gifts for others’ homes. They sell a lot of Christmas trees, garland and spruce tips and other holiday ambiance. Gift cards are also available.

Soon it will be Valentine’s Day, and Plaza Landscaping is proud of its fresh floral. Rocklin said they love delivering flowers, for any occasion as well as special occasions. Not long after that the company’s five full-time staff members will begin planting perennials in the greenhouse. They also carry more than 2,000 shrubs and trees. This is all going on as they redo the store, which sits on five acres.

It seems like a distant memory now, but there was not much snow heading into December, which gave Plaza Landscaping a solid fall season, not only to do the usual trimming but also to finish some major projects and begin looking at a couple new projects for next summer. They have a full-time landscape designer on staff. Last year alone Plaza did landscaping for ITC, Larson Manufacturing and Albert Lea Medical Center. For the summer months Plaza runs three crews, totally more than 20 people.

“We have a lot of work to start the spring,” said Rocklin, who added the company has been hired to do work on the Wedgewood Cove development. “These things take time to design and get OK’d. So people try to get on list and get the job done early.”

Oh, by the way, Plaza does snow removal, too, mostly commercial. Not shockingly, the month of December was a busy one.

“It’s something we haven’t experienced in a long time,” Rocklin said. “We’re running seven plows. It’s been exceptionally busy and we’re glad for it really.”

Combine that with the upcoming Valentine’s Day and the winter is anything but slow for this landscaping company.

“We don’t have a lot of down time,” Rocklin said.

Just the way he likes it. He said after a lifetime of work, slowing down for him hardly seems like an option.

“Hopefully, we’ve put our niche in Albert Lea,” Rocklin said.