Restoration Construction

Grading/Site Preparation, Revegetation, Erosion Control, and Soil Stabilization

Land Preparation

Often before restoration can begin, a suitable site must be created.  We have staff that can skillfully use heavy equipment and hand tools to craft the desired land forms to be restored.  We are expert scrapers who often work carefully to uncover native soil and baserock from layers of artificial soil fill or exotic forest duff.  Native rock, bulbs and rhizomes are often recovered and collected for later use or propagation during this process.

Replanting is the icon of restoration.  No other act illustrates it more than the propagation and installation of native plants back into locations where once present.

We recommend revegetation occur in sync with the natural growth cycle where species are planted during the winter rainy season in special deep root containers and establish without excessive energy inputs.  Some projects, however, require the creation of favorable growing conditions beyond the natural cycle.  We are skilled in developing temporary wildland watering systems using 4x4 water trucks, stand alone irrigation systems, and gel-chemical based water technologies when necessary.

We often build site specific structures to protect precious new plant installations.  From bomb-proof wire cages to protect seedlings from aggressive urban deer populations to natural fabric covered hillsides to protect loose soils from rain and gravity—nearly anything can be built to protect the investment in a project.  Fences, herbivore protection, trails for access, and a whole suite of erosion control structures are incorporated into projects as necessary.

We value the site specific adaptation that promotes native plant success in their local environments.  Our projects are carefully planned to collect propagation material on-site or nearby to maximize local genetic adaptations.  Plants are then grown in small, regional nurseries that approximate the natural growing conditions and climate the plant will later face when returned to the wild.  We salvage plant material whenever possible in the wake of development and grading projects.

Habitat loss as invasive plants displace native plants is one of the most significant threats to California’s natural areas today.  The scourge of invasive plants threatens existing natural areas in addition to restoration sites.  In many cases, the removal of invasive plants alone is enough to restore a degraded natural area back to its native state.

We are specialists in developing and implementing strategies for invasive plant control.  The constant influx of new invasive plants demands the development of new strategies, tools and methods for their control.  We build and customize new tools, test new methodologies and help develop Integrated Pest Management programs for long term success.