Carrie Turner has always had an affinity for raising plants, but it turns out she’s also got a green thumb when it comes to growing a business.
Turner owns The Plant House in Martinez, a mecca for those who love house plants, and the business is thriving as much as the plants she sells. But Turner, who is a hairstylist by trade, is an “accidental entrepreneur.”
It started with her love for plants.
“I’ve always loved working in the yard,” she said. “Any place we’ve lived, I always tore out the landscaping and did my own. Then one Mother’s Day, my husband bought me a house plant and I realized, oh my goodness, I can garden indoors!”
Still, plants were only intended to be a side job.
“I’d been doing hair for 20 years and I was bored, I wanted to do something else, so I asked my husband if I could do a side business of selling plants at the farmer’s market,” she said.
It didn’t take long for the side business to become a full-time business. Turner started growing plants on the back porch, which led to a greenhouse. She expanded to selling plants online. When her fans asked for a storefront, she put up a table at Trendz Salon where she worked. When she outgrew that, a room was created at the back of the salon for her business, and even that has spilled over into an outdoor area.
“We were blown away,” Turner said of her success.
The secret to her success is that she dispenses knowledge with the plants she sells.
“Most people say, ‘I have a black thumb and kill everything,’” she said. “So I’m teaching people how to take care of their plants and they realize they don’t kill everything. I focus on plant care. We have the healthiest plants in the area.”
Turner said growing house plants became more popular during people’s stays at home during the pandemic, but the interest has continued.
“It’s a hobby you do inside,” she said. “There’s something about caring for something and growing it – and not killing it – that is satisfying.”
The Plant House has a wide variety of plants, some of them unique to the area, like the philodendron variegated heartleaf. She grows many of them herself in her 25×12 greenhouse. The biggest selling varieties are philodendrons, Hoyas, and monsteras.
“I’ve sold most of the Syngonium albo,” Turner said. “Variegation is very popular right now.”
While she is teaching others about plants, Turner is learning a lot about being a business owner.
“I’ve learned that being a small business owner is the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” she said. “There’s never a day off, I get messages all hours of the day and the job is never done. And with plants, you don’t just have inventory, but an inventory that can die!
“But there is something more satisfying about a day’s work if you own the business than from working for someone else.”
Because of the success and rapid growth of the business, Turner is considering a larger location. But for now, she’ll continue to sell from her room at Trendz Salon, 3670 River Watch Parkway. Store hours are 10 a.m-6 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday and Saturday.
Customers can also place orders at augustaplanthouse.com. Online orders can be picked up at the store or they can be shipped.
