Bridges Land Management

Landscaping

Picture a dusty road in a rural area of Talbot County. A boy rides his bicycle to school, pulling a lawnmower behind him. After school, he cuts his neighbors’ grass on his way to ball practice. While it sounds like the subject of a Norman Rockwell painting circa 1950, this slice of Americana is actually a description of Eric Bridges, just 20 years ago.

Mr. Bridges comes from a family of farmers and has lived and worked in Talbot County his entire life. “I could have opened this business anywhere, but I wanted to stay in St. Michaels because it’s home,” he says. “I have customers—some of them my former teachers—that I’ve been taking care of since I was 12 years old. I never thought about doing anything else.”

Bridges Land Management provides a broad range of landscaping services, including demolition and excavation, shoreline restoration, patios, stone walls, ponds, plantings and lawns, as well as installation and lighting for most any type of outdoor living space. The company’s employees are continually recertified to assure compliance with the zoning and environmental requirements of the region.

“I could have opened this business anywhere, but I wanted to stay in St. Michaels because it’s home.”

“There’s been such an influx of landscape companies coming to the Eastern Shore over the last five years that we decided to create a contractors’ yard,” says Mr. Bridges. “We hope to get the landscaping jobs, but when we don’t, we sell the contractors what they need.”

Bridges Land Management is a distributor for Eagle Bay and Belgard pavers, as well as for A.M. Leonard rakes and shovels, various brands of landscaping cloth and other tools and supplies. The company offers rentals—of tractors, mini excavators, bulldozers, and other equipment—to smaller landscaping companies and do-it-yourself gardeners.

Although business slows during the months of January and February, Bridges Land Management’s garden center is pretty much a year-round operation. The selection of plants, gifts and other items changes with the seasons. Colorful annuals are available in the spring and summer, while fall brings the mums, pumpkins, corn stalks and straw, followed by Christmas trees and wreaths during the holidays. During the winter months Bridges Land Management’s employees plow snow for the state and local communities.

Eric and K.C. Bridges married seven years ago and have been partners in business ever since. “Bridges Land Management is pure Eric Bridges,” says Mrs. Bridges. “We enjoy working together so much, and the business has grown with us as a couple, but Eric is the face of the business and the knowledge and expertise behind it.”

The Bridges’ daughter, Abby, 8, enjoys going on calls with her dad; they hope their son—Grady, born in February 2009—will grow into the business as well.

In addition to running Bridges Land Management, Eric and K.C. Bridges own and operate Bridges Waste Management. The couple actively supports many community organizations and events, including the annual Waterfowl Festival, the Maritime Museum, Talbot County Hospice and Ducks Unlimited. Says Mrs. Bridges: “The community is important to us and we are happy to be able to give back.”

Bridges Land Management, Inc.
1114 S. Talbot Street
St. Michaels, MD 21663
410-820-4784

www.bridgeslandmanagement.com

Pictured: KC, Eric and Abby Bridges
Photography: David Mark Hall