Polishing a diamond

While studying political science in college, Melisa Sherman-Weckerlin started working in a retail greenhouse and quickly “fell in love with the industry,” she says. Although she considered working in politics after completing her degree, she continued to become more passionate about plants. One season turned into five or six, and she found herself immersed in her greenhouse career.

Then, Black Diamond — a retail greenhouse in her hometown of Toledo, Ohio — started building a new facility in nearby Perrysburg. At her mom’s suggestion, Sherman-Weckerlin applied for a job there, and she joined Black Diamond in 2006. She started out planting in the main greenhouse in Toledo, as well as helping take care of plants on the retail floor in Perrysburg. It was “the best of both worlds,” she says. “I’d get to grow them and then be part of selling them, too.”

Now as head grower at the Toledo facility, Sherman-Weckerlin produces a constantly refined mix of plant material to supply both locations. As the company celebrates its 70th anniversary this year, Sherman-Weckerlin works to improve the operation and the quality of the crops she grows.

Refining the plant mix

As head grower, Sherman-Weckerlin manages approximately 26,500 square feet of production space at Black Diamond — including a “big house” with seven bays spanning 15,500 square feet of annuals; five smaller houses producing perennials, herbs and vegetables; and one house that holds tropical plants from Florida.

When she joined the company, Black Diamond was growing the majority of its plant material in-house. But as labor challenges and product costs escalated, she had to get creative with her available resources.

“With less and less people, it was hard to grow properly, and the maintenance seemed to get trickier,” she says. “We were able to get what we wanted from the other places a little bit easier.”

Now, Black Diamond partners with other local greenhouses to supplement its production and add more variety. She focuses on growing in smaller containers, like 4 1/2-inch pots and a few 1-gallon sizes, while buying larger, more mature plants to save labor and space in the greenhouse.

“We bring in a lot of our annual flats because we grow some, but not enough to supply both stores,” she says. “We also buy some of our hanging baskets like fuchsia and calibrachoa, because it’s easier for us to buy those in as opposed to growing them. We’ve pared down to what we’re really good at growing and what we can easily turn over.”

Today, Black Diamond grows at least 60% of the plants sold at both locations. Sherman-Weckerlin and her team reevaluate this mix regularly. “Every year, we take a close look and cut back on a few things,” she says. “It’s never-ending.”

Rethinking pest control

Sherman-Weckerlin works with a lean staff of one full-time and two part-time employees. She handles most of the watering, spraying and scouting herself but delegates certain tasks to others on the team when needed. Black Diamond operates with a mentality of “one team,” where everyone helps out across the company.

Once plants leave the greenhouse and hit the retail floor, for example, Sherman-Weckerlin turns their care over to the retail staff. But on the weekends, when the greenhouse is running smoothly and garden center traffic increases, she spends time on the retail floor helping customers and fielding questions about plants. Likewise, Black Diamond’s lawn service manager jumps in to the retail store to help customers select grass seed and other products.

“That’s one of our mottos,” she says. “We want to give you the best advice and give you more of a personal experience than just going to a box store.”

Over time, however, applications of systemic pesticides like imidacloprid became a hassle to manage, she says, because only properly trained employees could apply them. Sherman-Weckerlin started experimenting with beneficial insects like Aphidius colemani to combat aphids and predatory Amblyseius cucumeris mites to control thrips. By 2020, she had phased out conventional pesticides and switched entirely to biocontrols — benefitting both labor management and plant quality, she says.

“Anyone can put a sachet in a hanging basket,” she says. “And the less harmful stuff we can do, the better — and ideally make for a healthier plant. Once it goes out to retail, the plant seems to do better, because it’s stronger.”

Now, when Sherman-Weckerlin scouts for greenhouse pests, “I’m also looking for those good bugs, too,” she says, to make sure they’re doing their jobs. Maintaining this delicate balance requires a constant rotation of spraying biological controls, releasing beneficial insects and monitoring plant health.

“The biggest challenge over the years is getting that fine balance of everybody working in unison,” she says. “Growing is a lot of trial and error and trying to find the right timing.”