John began his horticultural career when he was a young boy. He worked with his father, John Sherrill Jr., a disabled World War II veteran who began a truck farm in the 1960s as a way to make a living.

At the age of 6, Sherrill started going door to door selling produce in Salisbury neighborhoods.

"By the time I was 9, I was a serious asset to my father," he says. "I was doing the work of a 16- or 17-year-old."

In 1968 or 1969, the man they bought their starter plants from, Howard Thompson, retired. The family then began growing its own plants.

Sherrill continued to work for his father during summers off from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he earned a business degree.

After college, he and his older sister, Sylvia, became partners in the business and were joined several years later by his other sister, Rebecca. The business grew into a thriving wholesale operation. In the late '70s and early '80s, the business expanded, growing each year, Sherrill says. Their customers were mostly smaller greenhouses, hardware stores, garden centers and produce markets.

After getting his master's degree in education at Appalachian State University, Sherrill continued to work at the greenhouse business while also teaching horticulture classes at Alexander Central High School in Taylorsville. It was there that he met his first wife, Judy.

Things began to change for the business in the 1990s. Big box stores such as Lowe's began to focus more on gardening. An even more important change was the loss of wholesale clients to old age. Many of Sherrill's remaining clients were in their 60s, 70s or even 80s, and their children weren't choosing to carry on family businesses.

Sherrill says he saw the writing on the wall in the late 1990s and shifted his business paradigm.

"We'd always retailed some," he says, "but it had never been a big part of our market. We hadn't really advertised the retail side much until four years ago."

There were changes in Sherrill's life, as well. His father died in 1996, and Judy died in 2000. In 2002, his mother's health took a turn for the worse.

He began to realize it was becoming harder and harder to make a living on the wholesale side.

"Bigger greenhouses are becoming more efficient," he says. "And the factory-type greenhouse never appealed to me."

"I'd rather focus on the customer than on how many plants I can grow."

Salisbury Post - March 31, 2007

Retail business grows as more people dabble in the dirt.  By Katie Scarvey

WOODLEAF -- It's a weekday morning at The Garden Greenhouses, and a wholesale customer from Thomasville is buying 20 bags of growing mix. That's not unusual, but more and more, it's a retail customer who pulls into the parking lot.

"We're trying to dispel the myth that we're only wholesale," says owner John Sherrill III.

The garden center has re-invented itself, going from 90 percent wholesale to more than 50 percent retail last year, he says. This year, he anticipates that 65 percent of his business will be retail.

If you haven't been to the Woodleaf business for a while, you might be surprised at its new offerings and fresh look.

About three years ago, Sherrill began selling nursery items and added a landscaping component to his business. With the help of his wife Nancy, he opened up a gift shop that carries items such as wreaths, gardening gloves, wind chimes and even garden-themed greeting cards.

You can find almost any gardening or landscaping need, including a full line of fertilizers and pesticides, as well as pottery, statuary and vegetable seeds.

To accommodate an ever-increasing number of retail customers, Sherrill added a parking lot, as well as a Tiki hut -- complete with plastic grass on the roof -- with a cash register.

Many first-time visitors are surprised at how large the operation is. The 8.5 acre property -- which makes it the largest garden center in the state, Sherrill believes -- features about two acres of greenhouse space.

"We've got a tremendous selection of vegetables," he says -- more than 30 varieties of tomato plants and 20 varieties of peppers, as well as perhaps 50 varieties of herbs. There are also lots of annuals, perennials and a whole greenhouse full of hanging baskets. Another greenhouse is devoted to roses, including unusual tree roses.

The business can accommodate the homeowner who wants a single plant -- or 50 of the same plant.

Sherrill believes his prices compare favorably to the big box stores. "On probably two thirds of our products, the prices are better than the big box stores," he says. "People don't realize that."