Kimberly Miller
Kimberly Miller is the Owner and Business Owner of Grow Wild Greenery™ LLC and the Founder of the Planting it Forward™ Foundation, based in the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex. She and her husband have operated Grow Wild Greenery for six years, building it into a trusted local plant nursery and landscape design firm serving homeowners, schools, and communities across North Texas. While her husband oversees plant maintenance and customer education, Kimberly leads landscape design, marketing, merchandising, and business operations, bringing a strategic and creative approach to every project. Kimberly’s professional focus centers on native plants, landscape design, and plant education. She is deeply committed to using native species to repair soil, improve air quality, and create ecologically beneficial, beautiful outdoor spaces that support local ecosystems. Her philosophy is rooted in kindness, patience, and grace—values that shape how she works with customers, students, and community partners. Through her foundation, she designs and funds accessible school and community gardens that promote sustainability, education, and healthy fundraising initiatives. After nearly 20 years in design, merchandising & product development, Kimberly pivoted during the COVID-19 pandemic to create a family-run plant nursery full-time. Her husband, a landscaping company owner with more than two decades of experience, played a key role in teaching her horticulture and landscape fundamentals. Kimberly draws on her background in design, merchandising, and C.A.D instruction to create thoughtful landscape plans, educate clients, and grow a purpose-driven business that blends environmental stewardship with creative design and community impact.
Grow Wild Greenery™ launched in 2020, from a desire to do something that mattered. Like so many, the early days of the pandemic made me stop, breathe, and really see what was around us.
Grow Wild Greenery™ began with a clear intention: to grow beauty with purpose and to bring plants that thrive in our Texas climate into people’s landscapes. Kimberly didn't want this to be just about selling plants; she wanted it to be about sharing growth and healing our environment. That meant affordable pricing, guidance for new gardeners, and an emphasis on native and edible plants that support wildlife, conserve water, and bring life into neighborhoods. As the nursery took root and community support grew, she began to feel a deeper calling take shape — one that extended beyond the nursery itself. She realized that the same sense of joy a single plant can create for an individual could also extend into classrooms and communities that might not otherwise have access to hands-on learning.
Planting it Forward Foundation™ grew out of an opportunity Grow Wild Greenery™ was given to design and implement a local, wheelchair-accessible school garden for special-needs students through a grant. Kimberly watched how excited the kids were to help, learn, and truly dig into a space that would become their future garden. The teachers were joyfully overwhelmed by having an outdoor educational space they could genuinely use. She didn't want these experiences to be out of reach; they should be accessible to every child and community.
Planting it Forward Foundation™ cultivates accessible gardens, provides practical plant education, and supplies plants and planting resources for schools. The foundation exists to remove barriers, meet communities where they are, and transform unused or underused spaces into places of learning, nourishment, and confident skill-building for future generations.
For Kimberly, this work isn’t about what's been built — it’s about what continues to grow long after she's gone. Every time a student learns to care for a plant or a community comes together around a shared garden, she is reminded why this path matters: growth, when shared, has the power to change what’s possible. This is the legacy she hopes to leave.
• Grow Wild Greenery LLC>
• Nursery Stock Grower Certificate
• Academy of Art University - MFA
• International Academy of Design and Technology - BFA
• Planting it Forward Foundation
• Grow Wild Greenery LLC.
• Member of the Native Texas Plant Society
• North Texas Master Gardeners
• Buddy Ministry
• Compass Junior High Ministry
• Compass Christian Church
• 500K Meal Marathon (Compass Christian Church)
• Donations to Boys & Girls Scouts of America
• Plant Doantions to local schools
What do you attribute your success to?
She attributes her success to the convergence of her design and merchandising background (including CAD and Adobe skills), her teaching experience, the hands‑on horticultural expertise of her husband, and the opportunity to pivot into plants during COVID — a pivot that felt aligned with her purpose and faith.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Who you know might get you in the door, but what you know keeps you there.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
If I had to give one piece of advice to anyone on the edge of launching a company, it would be this: don’t wait for the perfect scenario. Ignore the doubts and the “what ifs,” and take the leap. Creating something doesn’t require constant motivation — it requires inspiration and commitment. If you’re willing to put in the hours for someone else’s company, you’re capable of doing it for your own.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Challenges: climate extremes (heat, freezes, windstorms, droughts, heavy downpours) that damage our plants and nursery infrastructure, and also public skepticism about climate change. Opportunities: educating the public — especially children — about native plants and sustainable landscaping as practical ways to repair soil and improve air quality.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Kindness, patience and grace.
Investing time in others to educate clients and students rather than assuming their prior knowledge of plants is already established.
Really taking the time to listen to what people need, and being thoughtful in the care and guidance. Not just at work but in all areas of life.