Habitat Restoration

Rock Spring is a leading provider of habitat restoration services and materials in the southeastern United States (Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee and Alabama). Our services include:

Restoration planning & consulting

Grassland & meadow establishment

Invasive species control & eradication

Seed collection & processing

Installation & maintenance

Landscape management

Our goal is to repair and improve degraded native habitats so that they better support the native plant communities and diverse fauna of local ecosystems. We also work to enhance otherwise healthy habitats for pollinators (such as the monarch butterfly), birds, and other wildlife.

Native Plants

We grow plants native to the southeastern United states. All of our plants are ecotypes grown from seed, spores or cuttings collected using sustainable methods. We offer:

Native grasses, wildflowers, ferns

Sedges, trees, shrubs

Seed, plugs, bare root, containerized

Wetland and riparian restoration materials

See the plant descriptions on our website and check our Availability for a list of our current offerings.

Vegetation Management

We are a licensed provider of vegetation and pest management services, including:

Weed Managment & Eradication (grasslands):
Microstegium, crabgrass, Chinese basil, fescue, Bermuda grass

Woody Species Control (timberland):
Sweetgum, cherry, tulip poplar, blackberry, Virginia pine control

Invasive Species Control & Eradication:
Privet, Kudzu, Eleagnus, English ivy, Johnson grass, autumn olive

Portfolio of Projects

United States Forest Service:

Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest, Georgia (2009-2017):

Management of non-native invasive species on 125 acres, Conasauga District (2009).

Native grass and wildflower seed collection and processing (2009 to present).

Installation of native grass and wildflower plugs and seed and non-native invasive species eradication, Pocket Natural area, Conasauga District (2013-2014).

Non-native invasive species eradication project on 125 acres to reduce threat to native plant and wildlife populations, Conasauga District (2015).
Collect, propagate, and install Symphyotrichum georgianum (Georgia aster), a state listed threatened species (G2G3/S2), Conasauga District (2016-2017).

Pinus echinata (shortleaf pine) vegetation management (2016).

Bankhead National Forest, Alabama: Furnished and installed over 3,000 Andropogon gerardii (big bluestem) plugs in the understory of loblolly forest (2015).

Big Canoe:

Habitat restoration planning and management for 40 acres of meadow habitat in north central Georgia, Pickens County, Georgia (2009-present).

Maintain a bog habitat to support Platanthera integrilabia (monkeyface orchid), a state listed

threatened species (G2G3/S1S2), in collaboration with the Atlanta Botanical Garden and the North American Land Trust; Pickens County, Georgia (2014-2017).

Blue Heron Nature Preserve:

Ongoing restoration planning and management for 12 acres of meadow, bottomland and riparian habitat on a tributary of the Chattahoochee River, Fulton County, Georgia.

Habitat enhancement for Monarch butterflies and other pollinators, birds, turtles and beavers (2012-2015); Fulton County, Georgia.

Furnish native perennials, woodies, and seeds, City of Atlanta, Georgia (2010-present).

Olmstead Linear Park:

Vegetation management services for a 26 acre urban park, Atlanta, Georgia (2017).

Historic Fourth Ward Park:

Vegetation/weed management services for a 17 acre urban park, Atlanta, Georgia (2017).

Fernbank Nature Preserve:

Planned, furnished, and installed native ferns, grasses, and sedges to create a 10 acre riparian habitat and a two acre meadow habitat, Atlanta, Georgia (2015-2016).

Ongoing invasive species eradication.

Army Corps of Engineers:

Establishment of a three acre pollinator habitat, Carters Lake, Murray County, Georgia (2017).

Atlanta Audubon Society:

Restored three acres of riparian habitat for birds. Removed invasive or undesirable plants and planted 700 native wildflower plants.
Confluence Trail, South Fork Conservancy, Atlanta, Georgia (2017).

Eradicate non-native invasive species. Furnish and install native species in an eight acre wetland habitat. Emma Lane Tract, Blue Heron Nature Preserve, City of Atlanta, Georgia (2016).

Restored bird-friendly habitat, Deepdene Park, part of the Olmsted Linear Park system in Atlanta, and Friendship Forest, a 10 acre riparian green space in Clarkston, both in DeKalb County, Georgia (2017).

Trees Atlanta:

Delivered 3,600 native grass and wildflower plugs for installation by the Atlanta Beltline volunteers, Atlanta, Georgia (2016).

Delivered 150,000 native grass and wildflower plugs for installation on the Atlanta Beltline, Atlanta, Georgia (2017).

McDonough:

Furnished, installed, and provided long term maintenance for native trees and warm season grasses in Alexander Park, a mile-long recreational path; City of McDonough, Georgia (2015).

Gwinnett County:

Ongoing conversion of 7 acre fescue field into a native grass and wildflower meadow in McDaniel Farm Park.
Installation of native grass and wildflower plugs and seed and non native invasive species eradication, Gwinnett County, Georgia (2015).

Stone Mountain Park:

Treated invasive species, provided consultation services, and native grass and wildflower seeds to establish a two acre native pollinator meadow at Stone Mountain, Stone Mountain, Georgia (2015).

Honey Creek Woodlands:

Liquidambar styraciflua (Sweetgum), Rubus ssp. (blackberry), and Eupatorium capillifolium (dogfennel) control. Native grassland management and enhancement, Conyers, Georgia (2008-2015).

Monastery of the Holy Spirit:

Established four acres of native warm season meadow habitat to reduce the need for mowing and to improve wildlife habitat, Conyers, Georgia (2013-2015).

Etowah Indian Mounds State Historic Site:

Installed 500 grass and wildflower plugs in a demonstration area for the State of Georgia Department of Natural Resources; Bartow County, Georgia, 2008.

Conasauga Natural Area:

Installed 9,400 Indian grass plugs on four acres for the State of Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Non-game Wildlife Management Division; Murray County, Georgia, 2008.

Ramsay Creek:

Delivered 2,200 Little Bluestem, Indiangrass, Big Bluestem and Switchgrass plugs to be installed in a natural burial cemetery for Memorial Ecosystems; Oconee County, South Carolina, 2008/09.

Honey Creek Woodlands:

Delivered and installed approx. 1,500 Little Bluestem, Indiangrass and various wildflower plugs in a natural burial cemetery for the Monastery of the Holy Spirit; Rockdale County, Georgia, 2008/09.

Talladega National Forest:

Installed 4,000 Little Bluestem, Indiangrass and Silky Oatgrass plugs on approx. seven acres for the United States Forest Service, National Forests of Alabama, Oakmulgee Ranger District; Bibb County, Alabama, 2009.

Talladega National Forest:

Installed 6,000 Big Bluestem and Indiangrass plugs on approx. 20 acres for the United States Forest Service, National Forests of Alabama, Shoal Creek Ranger District; Cleburne, County, Alabama, 2009.

Sandy Creek Nature Center:

Delivered approx. 1,100 Little Bluestem, Indiangrass, Switchgrass and various wildflower plugs to be installed in a meadow habitat for the Athens / Clarke County Department of Recreation; Clarke County, Georgia, 2008/09/10.

McDaniel Meadows at Big Canoe:

Drafted and implemented a habitat restoration plan for seven acres of meadow habitat for the Big Canoe Property Owners Association; Pickens County, Georgia, 2009.

Sprewell Bluff State Recreation Area:

Installed 2,100 local ecotype Big Bluestem and Switchgrass plugs for the State of Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Non-game Wildlife Management Division; Upson County, Georgia, 2009.

Georgia Transmission Corporation:

Installed 5,760 native warm season grass plugs on two sites aggregating approx. 4 acres for the Georgia Transmission Corporation; Gwinnett County, Georgia and Hancock County, Georgia, 2009.

Carters Lake:

Invasive species eradication on approx. 15 acres for the United States Army Corps of Engineers; Murray County, Georgia, 2009.

Chattahoochee National Forest:

Installed 17,500 Big Bluestem, Indiangrass, Switchgrass, and Poverty Oat grass plugs on approx. four acres for the United States Forest Service Chattahoochee National Forest, Blue Ridge Ranger District; Union County, Georgia, 2009.

Pinenut Lane:

Installed 1,500 Little Bluestem and wildflower plugs on approx. ½ acre for the Georgia Transmission Corporation; Clarke County, Georgia, 2010.

Blue Heron Nature Preserve:

Restoration planning and implementation, invasive species eradication on approx. 10 acres for the Blue Heron Nature Preserve Committee; Fulton County, Georgia, 2010.