About Beech Hollow

Beech Hollow Mission:

Beech Hollow Farm’s mission is to produce high quality, locally sourced, plant material to restore the Georgia Piedmont.

Beech Hollow Farm

is a 120 acre native plant farm just outside Lexington, Ga. It is named after the grove of centuries old Beech trees that line the banks of the creek that meanders its way through the property.  Native Georgia plants, their preservation and propagation, are our passion.

 

Our Plants, Our History:

Twenty years ago Pandra Williams started collecting native plant specimens on large woodland tracts under development in South Fulton County. By 2005, collection had turned into propagation as Williams saw a lack of native plants available for sale for homes and public spaces. In 2012 Williams and Jeff Killingsworth opened the Beech Hollow nursery in Lexington.  With a trove of regional genotypes in their propagation beds, BHF has established and maintained a growing catalog of plants for propagation..

Beech Hollow currently boasts an inventory of over 235 different species of native trees, shrubs, vines, perennials, grasses and sedges. With this inventory, BHF is able to:

  • Stock two direct-to-customer sales nurseries.
  • Fill special orders of various sizes.
  • Conduct both temporary and permanent installations.
  • Participate in volunteer planting activities.
  • Donate to local eco-based charities.

Check out the work we’ve done with Freedom Park and Blue Heron Nature Preserve:

All our plants are grown using sustainable practices and all seeds and other plant material are collected ethically and with permission. Additionally, we do not use neonicotinoids, or other ecology-disrupting chemicals.

 

Our Team

Mike and Pandra Williams imitating "American Gothic" at Beech Hollow Farms.

Founders and Owners, Mike & Pandra Williams

The idea to form Beech Hollow Farm as a native plant nursery was originally inspired by an area of southwest Atlanta. Strewn with large boulders and peppered with native plant species, this patch of ground is known locally as Boat Rock. Popular with rock climbers, the area had been spared the developer’s bulldozer blade until the Atlanta housing boom of the 1990’s and 2000’s. The Southeast Climber’s Coalition (SCC) established a small woodland climbing preserve in 2002. However, the surrounding area was still subject to the whims of land developers. Mike and Pandra Williams, who were active members of the climbing community at the time, saw the destruction of native plant populations first hand and decided to take action.

In an effort to preserve local genetic plant stock, they began working with developers to save plants, seeds, and bulbs before ground-disturbing activity began. This process proved to be troublesome, and begged larger questions: Why aren’t these plants growing everywhere? on roadsides? in front yards? in flower beds?

The answer proved to be lack of supply. There were few native plant nurseries in the Atlanta area, and many existing nurseries carried very few native species. Even the few native species available were grown from non-local genetic stock and thus did nothing to preserve Georgia’s rich diverse plant history.

 

Bee in Touch

We love to hear from native plant lovers!