Wow, What a Show!

If Green and Growin’ 23 is any indication of what is to come, we have an exciting year in store for us! As most of you know, Green and Growin’ is our flagship event of the year. Attendance was strong at this year’s show, from the education program to the trade show, and there was a feeling of excitement in the air. I want to thank NCNLA staff for raising the bar—not just for this specific event, but for the green industry in North Carolina as a whole. Our team truly put together a lineup of keynote speakers and education presentations that could rival any green industry show in the country. Staff also did an excellent job organizing a vibrant trade show, with more than 300 vendors for our members to meet and interact with. In speaking to some of our event guests from other parts of the country, I was reminded how fortunate we are to have a strong, active association.

In 2023, I am looking forward to another year of great organization events like the Robert Cagle Memorial Golf Tournament, our scholarship fundraiser. The Summer Educational Summit will also be a great opportunity to learn from some of the brightest in the industry and earn continuing education credits at the same time.

If I may, I would also like to take the opportunity to tell you a little bit about myself, my family and my story. My journey in the green industry was an unlikely one from the start, and this not-so-little landscape company of ours was never really the plan. I started with humble ambitions: I wanted a vehicle. That was it. I was looking for a way as a young teenager to make enough money to buy a vehicle to drive to school, so I started mowing yards on our street with Dad’s Murray riding lawn mower. I eventually earned enough to buy that vehicle (a 1994 Jeep Wrangler, which I still own!), but it didn’t stop there. At some point along the way, Dad (Tim Sr.) retired and got bored. However, if you know him at all, you probably know he isn’t one to sit idle for long. So, he started mowing a few lawns as well. Eventually we started working together, made a few equipment upgrades and decided to co-found Tim Johnson Landscaping.

A career in the green industry still wasn’t the plan, though. I left for college, with a plan to play baseball and get a degree in engineering. The only part of the plan that made it through that first college stop was baseball. However, I also had a new girlfriend, Jenni, who is now my wife—the best thing to happen to me during that time. As I began to look at life, I realized that my passion wasn’t behind a computer screen, but rather out in the dirt. So, I transferred to North Carolina A&T University to pursue a degree in horticulture, and Jenni was crazy enough to follow me to Greensboro. Now we have two beautiful children, Eleanor and “TJ” (Tim III).

By 2009, it was Dad and I running the business, and we had just one part-time employee. Since then, we have built an incredible team of more than 100 people, who give me the opportunity to do what I love every day and volunteer my time with organizations like the NCNLA. In addition to working with my father as a business partner, I now also have the chance to work with Joyce, my mother (so much for retirement, Mom!). These days, the first-class team at Tim Johnson Landscaping provides landscape maintenance and installation in the North Carolina Piedmont and Foothills areas, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for us.

I would be remiss if I did not take the opportunity to thank our membership for allowing me the opportunity to act as NCNLA president for this year and serve on the NCNLA Board of Directors. It is an honor to serve, and I am honored and humbled to have this opportunity. During my tenure, I promise to give my best to the association and its members to continue and grow NCNLA’s long, impressive track record of success. I look forward to working with all of you to continue to build the strength and success of this great association!