Richard E. Bir

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.

Dick has provided the Southern Highlands Reserve with guidance from the beginning. His most sage piece of advice was that it was OK that we had no idea what we were doing. The Reserve benefitted not only from Dick’s experience and knowledge but, perhaps most importantly, from the close rapport he has established during his career with almost everyone in the horticulture, nursery and public garden fields.

A pioneer of the current native plant education and research revival, Dick was instrumental in establishing the Native Plant Conference at Cullowhee as the major native plant conference in North America. He published the popular book Growing and Propagating Showy Native Woody Plants. Describing himself as ‘a teacher who does practical research’, Dick lectures nationally and has produced over 500 published articles.

Several years ago, during a day trip with Dick on a search for Sorbus Americana, a plant not commonly grown by nurserymen, I listened to Dick’s stories as we drove through several counties north of Asheville. Dick described every patch of nursery plants we drove by. He knew who owned each one and their family history - how they started and how they ended up, some good, some not so good.  Dick assisted most of these growers in getting started in the nursery business. He helped them in planning production layout and identifying their marketing niche. He was there when they had bug problems. He helped them figure out why the plants in this field were doing better than those in the other field. During one ten year period from 1980 to 1990, Dick, through his extension work at the research station, was responsible for a 130% increase in acres under production and a 668% increase in nursery sales for the 25 mountain counties. By the way, we found the mountain ash – just days before the bulldozer was scheduled to visit.

His best management practices have been widely adopted because they were first developed by utilizing “On Farm” nursery studies which were carried out and evaluated under conditions applicable to a larger segment of the nursery industry.

Dick was the 2006 recipient of the Scott Medal and Award given by Swarthmore College annually to an individual or organization that has made an outstanding national contribution to the science and art of gardening.

In 2008, Dick was awarded the distinguished International Award of Honour from the International Plant Propagators Society. The award recognizes individuals who have given exceptional and distinguished service to I.P.P.S. and achieved outstanding accomplishments in the field of plant propagation. Dick was nominated for his accomplishments in the field of horticulture and his willingness and desire to share his knowledge with others. His thousands of presentations, workshops, and articles have been a valuable resource to all in the horticultural community, from homeowners, to nurserymen to landscapers to academics.

“Being involved with SHR has been a wonderful gift for someone who has spent a lifetime learning how to encourage both native and non-native plants to grow best.  My research and education successes have often been taken to the point of reporting the research and encouraging nurseries or gardens to do as I suggested but I have had limited opportunity to work with a major garden as it developed.

Being confronted with the problems of garden design, soils and an intentionally limited plant palette . . .  plants native to the Southern Appalachian Highlands and their hybrids . . . has been an engaging challenge.  Working out practical solutions to problems that might otherwise be theoretical . . . then seeing them implemented and being able to follow progress in the gardens at the Southern Highlands Reserve has been wonderful for me and, I think, for SHR.  Watching the beautiful and environmentally sensitive gardens as well as natural areas gradually develop at SHR confirms that we have been doing the right thing.”

…… Dick Bir