Appalachian Native Plants and Forests: Propagation and Restoration
By Kevin Caldwell

The southern Appalachians are one of the most biologically rich and diverse ecosystems in the northern hemisphere of the earth. Over 3500 plant and animal species (and a rapidly growing human population) currently make their homes here. Appalachian plants are not only beautiful, but nearly all of them have useful qualities to humans, providing food, medicine, or both. They also have unique "personalities" and rich folk histories. Many people would be truly amazed by the wealth of natural inhabitants on the land where they make their homes.

Ironically, most of us go unaware of the native "natural communities" housing native plant and animal species, and the human and natural history of this area. Since fall is one of the best times to propagate native plants from root, collect seeds, and rescue threatened plants from permanent land development, this article offers a few tips on understanding mountain natural areas and working with native species. First the bad news, waves of original forest timbering, grazing, agriculture, road-building, industrial logging, and current rounds of development have greatly altered mountain forests and ecosystems from their "original" form. Gone is the American chestnut to an imported fungal blight. Ginseng now lives at 1% of its "original" numbers due to medicinal herb demands, and native elk and passenger pigeons are extinct from over-hunting. These are just a few of many biological tragedies that have seriously altered the "native" forests of eastern north America - a land of which you and I saw little to none.

The good news is, in spite of prior losses and continued damage, we still have an amazing diversity of native plant and animal species and even high quality old growth "original" forests (minus the chestnut) remaining on both public and private lands. We are lucky to be able to use these documented areas as models for restoring what's left and adding some pizzazz to our properties. As a botanist, I'm continually surprised by the never-ending procession of plants in the mountains I've not seen before, common or rare, and how easy many of them are to grow. The resiliency of native ecosystems and plants are truly amazing, but these are not to be taken for granted.

Why bother with native plants? Native plants are those that naturally occur in a region over geologic time and were not introduced by humans. They have evolved to specific elevations, climate, rainfall, soils and geology, fungi, the presence of insects, animals, and other plant species and even disturbances like flooding, exposed soils, and fire. They tend to be site-hardy, able to tolerate weather extremes, provide food and shelter for migratory birds and native wildlife, and often require less maintenance, water, and fertilizers than some of the high-energy cultivars. However, just because a plant is native doesn't mean you can or should plant it by your house. One of the first challenges is putting native species in places they naturally occur. For example, a full sun, bog plant like Arrowhead placed in an equally lit but well-drained area is unlikely to do well without high maintenance, but a New York Fern (Thelyptris novaeborensis) will thrive just about anywhere at any elevation.

Native plants are more accurately discussed in terms of the "natural communities" in which they naturally occur, where they interact with a wide variety of other plants, insects, and animals. Natural communities, whether forested or wetland, are mosaics of very distinct, often predictable groupings of dominant trees, and associated plant species. (Think of them as biological neighborhoods.) And one of the first and most important steps to using native plants is to first become familiar with the forests and plants growing right around you. If you do not have much land, you'll have a harder time figuring out the "natural" regime of what used to live where you do over the past millennia. If you have a bit more land, you have the chance to more readily learn the natural composition of your tract and get moving in that direction.

Example: a south-facing, forested ridge at 3000 feet elevation is likely dominated by Oaks (Black, Scarlet, and Chestnut) and Hickories, a few Sourwood, Black Gum, or Red Maple, dense thickets of Mountain Laurel, Huckleberry or Blueberry shrubs, and beds of Galax, and New York Fern. Its soil is probably shallow and acidic, and it harbors maybe 40 to 50 plant species over the maximum area. This area could be called an "Oak-Hickory" forest. A north-facing cove on the back side of the mountain at the same elevation may harbor as many as 200 to 250 plant species, having a canopy of sugar maple, cucumber magnolia, black cherry, buckeye, tulip poplar, bitternut hickory and northern red oak. This forest will have a very open understory, dense with wildflowers, ferns, and sedges rather than shrubs, and very deep, moist soils. This area could be called a "Rich Cove" or "Cove Hardwoods" forest. These two different forest types as described here may not even have a single plant species common to both areas, even though they exist on opposite sides of the same mountain! Certainly, impacts to each "forest type" from home or road-building are dramatically different in terms of number of species affected, species composition, and variety of landscape material available, and which species can be planted back within the system. Clearly, a landowner having both slope situations on their land would be wise to avoid the north-facing areas, and build on the southern slope where soils are likely more stable, biodiversity is far less, and snows melt off roads faster in the winter. They would then utilize the existing south-facing native plant stock for landscaping, though it is less diverse and concentrated than the northern. A simple trail through the northern cove then gives the landowner the benefit of Mother Nature's rich and natural landscaping! If you already own or rent a home or are not clearing forested or other land, one of the first and easiest ways to use native plants is to first carefully observe. Begin to learn the native species within the surrounding natural areas on your land, and use similar species which prefer the aspect, light, and soils of your site. Native plants and forests should especially be considered in the homebuilding process when forested lands are cleared for roads and homes. Landowners owning or building on larger tracts of land have the special opportunity and responsibility of more carefully assessing forests,biologically rich areas, and rare plant and animal species, basing their plans on these unique features, and utilizing these species and their native soils within the home-site. Too many landowners are losing thousands of dollars worth of their own high quality, native plant stock. First, they may lose in clearing unknown species and quantities of landscape quality plants from future driveways and home-sites. Second, they lose in having to then buy many of the same species from nurseries at three to four times the expense of moving and propagating species on site. However, depending on the time of year, site history, species composition, and quantity, its not always feasible for landowners to save species.

You can increase your success by doing a little work ahead of time that will save you some misery down the road, and more fully understand the workings of the area, get back in synch with it.

• Assess the current "theme" - what native plants do you already have? In what quantity? Can you save seed, divide rootstocks, propagate, or increase this material? Assess light, aspect, soil pH, moisture requirements, and "companion" species. o Test soil pH and improve as needed.
• Observe your site conditions and select plants that match the existing theme. For example, is the site full sun and dry (ridge), full sun and moist (boggy), shade and dry (south facing slopes), shade and moist (north-facing slopes). The tough part is the fact that the land very likely wants to go back to being a forest - consider allowing some areas to grow and see what comes up. Don't forget that many high quality wildflowers and ferns thrive in shade.
• Use local "natural areas" as models for your plantings - shade-loving species in similar situations will likely do as well in the shade on the north side of a home or under clusters of trees.
• Collect seeds or cuttings from these populations only if they are plentiful. NEVER dig plants from the wild unless they will be destroyed in construction, and always ask permission in the latter event. When buying plants, be sure plants are not wild collected, but are continuously propagated.
• Divide! Root division is a major, reliable, and immediately satisfying method for propagation of most but not all native plants. For example, many Trillium species tend not to survive root divisions as they have few to no buds, but Wild Geranium, Black Cohosh, or Spiderwort divide rather easily. If you have the land and plentiful numbers of common species, you also have the special opportunity of being able to increase their current natural numbers: many species may be lifted from the soil, divided in into 10 or 20 new sections with 2 or 3 buds per section, allowing you to replant 5 or 10 "new" plants in their natural area and have a few left over to put near your home.
• Choose one species to plant in a colony throughout the site: this creates a strong visual effect and allows greater nutrient exchange between plants than if planted far apart, which makes plants and colonies much healthier.

It took me a while to move from planting random native plants to learning more about those that more naturally occur on a site and begin working with them. Once I learned that plants live in "communities" and have specialized roles much like we do in our own communities, I was able to more easily work with the "facts" of the land. The southern Appalachians are primarily a forested ecosystem, containing many smaller open areas like wetlands, balds, glades, cliffs, and barrens, all of which house countless showy wildflowers. Even the forests have natural open areas from disturbances like fire, landslides, and treefall "gaps" from wind, ice, lightening, and insect infestations which bring out flushes of native plants typically less common under the canopy. Successful and rewarding use of native plants is best done with incorporating the natural areas model and native plants on your land, and should ideally imitate native forest and open-area compositions, which are an outstanding resource of native plant material in the mountains.

Take the time to know these forest friends; you will benefit from their many fine qualities as healers, nutrition-packed edibles, and attractive and harmonious elements of the landscape around your mountain home. Instead of destroying these attractive and often threatened plants and buying imported plants for landscaping, you can create a beautiful yard with these native beneficials. By harvesting and using these plants with respect and sustainability in mind, you'll be doing your part to heal the land.

Recommended and essential reading material include:

Classification of the Natural Communities of NC, North Carolina Natural Heritage Program, DENR.

Growing and Propagating Wildflowers, by Harry R. Phillips.

Newcombe's Wildflower Guide, by Lawrence Newcombe.

Native Plants Websites:
Center for Plant Conservation: www.mobot.org/cpc/
Plants Database: www.plants.usda.gov/plants
Plant Conservation Alliance: www.nps.gov/plants/

Kevin Caldwell spends his time helping landowners and developers rescue and landscape with native plants. For more information about the native plants on your land, email kevin@newlifejournal.com.

This article first appeared in the Fall 2000 issue of New Life Journal. It is © Kevin Caldwell and New Life Journal. No part of this article can be duplicated without written permission of New Life Journal.