History of the Reserve

The Southern Highlands Reserve is dedicated to sustaining the natural ecosystems of the Blue Ridge Mountains through the preservation, cultivation and display of plants native to the region and by advocating for their value through education, restoration and research. Located in Western North Carolina at an elevation of 4500 feet, the varied topography and forest types found on our 120 acres allow us to emulate many of the plant communities found in high elevation forests of the Southern Appalachians. Southern Highlands Reserve has been aptly described by some as “the largest and most diverse collection of native Southern Appalachian plants and their cultivars.”

These high-elevation forests are home to rare forest ecotones that provide unique opportunities for education and research. With the help of landscape design professionals, the Reserve grew out of a master planning process encompassing strategic management and aesthetic goals. The Reserve’s gardens are managed to illustrate how thoughtful design combined with complex native plant communities can showcase our high elevation microclimate. Each garden room is designed to elicit an emotional experience, fostering a human connection with the plants, animals and environment surrounding us. We hope our visitors experience the gardens as a place to reconnect with nature and reflect upon their role in the Grand Design.

Consultants

Gary Smith

Gary Smith

Full Bio

With more than twenty-five years of experience in public garden design and master planning, W. Gary Smith has distinguished himself as a landscape architect who celebrates plants and the connections they offer between people and nature. As an ecological designer and professional horticulturist, he combines art, horticulture, and architectural features in innovative ways, exploring the intersection between ecological design and artistic abstraction.

Richard E. Bir

Richard E. Bir

Full Bio

It was the Southern Highlands Reserve’s good fortune to have begun our project at the same time that Dick Bir was retiring from a 25 year career with North Carolina State University at the Mountain Horticultural Crops Research & Extension Center in Fletcher, NC.

Ron Lance

Ron Lance

Full Bio

The Southern Highlands Reserve is fortunate to have formed an early alliance with Ron Lance. Ron has served as chief botanist in charge at the Reserve, keeping us on the straight and narrow as far as which plant is which is concerned. Ron’s plant knowledge is thorough, authentic and personal. A walk in the woods with Ron is truly a sensory experience. When asked about the identity of a plant, Ron often insists you feel, taste and smell it. You’ve pretty much got it down pat from that point forward.

Artisans

Aaron Bailey & Jesse Morgan

Aaron Bailey & Jesse Morgan

Full Bio

Aaron Bailey and Jesse Morgan, both graduates of Brevard College’s Outdoor Leadership program, are imaginative and creative in their approach to solving unique woodland construction problems at the Southern Highlands Reserve. Their challenge has been to provide access to fragile environments without destroying what we are traveling to see.

Jack & Travis Owen

Jack & Travis Owen

Full Bio

Jack and Travis Owen, a father and son team, have left an indelible imprint on the Southern Highlands Reserve. From the many large native boulders used for steps and walls all over the Reserve, the unique Jacks’s Barn, the chestnut boards inside the office building and the large soapstone rock used for the patio fireplace on the roof garden, Jack and Travis have left a lasting impression.

C&E Remodeling

C&E Remodeling

Full Bio

C&E is a family operation. Owner Jim Eiland and his son, Peter, along with nephew Sean Cogan, began construction in the spring of 2006 on the Southern Highlands Reserve’s research center, Chestnut Lodge. The Eilands and Cogan brought along a staff of experienced artisans and craftsmen that have completed a much talked-about building. Regarding the amount of wormy chestnut embedded in the walls of our handcrafted Chestnut Lodge, many of those in the wood business have commented, “there is not another building like this in the U.S.”

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