The Parke Company | The Parke Company

Late Freezes: How They Affect Your Trees and Landscape

September 30, 2026April 19, 2023 by The Parke Company

Spring hasn’t quite sprung, but that doesn’t mean you can’t start thinking about your landscape design and tree care services for the warmer months! Right now is the time to start planning and preparing for the spring months so your plants and tree have healthy and timely blooms.

Nashville is infamous for its late freezes. So what happens if a late freeze hits after you’ve completed your tree and landscape services for spring? Well, unfortunately that’s always a risk, especially in the Middle Tennessee area, but don’t worry! As long as you know what to do and how to protect your your trees and landscape, you’ll be good to go.

Here are a few tips to help you along the way:

What is a late freeze? Even with the threat of a late freeze, you can still prep and plant for the spring. A late freeze can happen as late as May, and you don’t want to lose those few months of bloom. A freeze occurs when the temperature drops below 32 degrees overnight. Frost is a common sign of a freeze, but a freeze can still occur even with no clear signs of frost.

What are the effects of a late freeze? Did you know that different plants react differently to a late freeze? That’s why it’s so important to know what kind of plants you grow on your property in order to keep them safe. Another factor is the temperature itself and the amount of time it remains that temperature. A few degrees can make a world of difference for certain type of plants. If you’re unsure, an arborist or landscape worker at Parke can help you identify which blooms or plants are at a higher risk than others during one of your landscape service or lawn service visits. The fragile plants or blooms are the ones most affected by a late freeze.

How can you protect your plants and how can Parke help? If you have potted plants that can be easily transported, bring them inside. You can also water plants before a freeze to insulate the soil and roots of the plant. You may also cover fragile plants with a flower pot or bucket to prevent frost or freezing damage on the blooms. For trees and shrubbery, cover with old bed sheets, fabric or burlap. Do not use plastic. Be sure to uncover anything you protected overnight in the morning.

Have more questions about late freezes and how to protect your beautiful landscape and trees? Parke has you covered. The team of experts at Parke will be able to tell you what precautions are necessary as well as how to keep them safe.

Interested in growing your trees and landscape into something impressive? Your favorite arborists and landscape team at the Parke Company can take care of all your tree service, landscape service and lawn service needs all year long. It doesn’t matter if you live in the Franklin area or the Madison area. They can take care of it all!

Writer of this blog – Gdweblab

Severe Storms and How Parke Can Help

September 30, 2026April 19, 2023 by The Parke Company

Nashville summer storms are nothing new. So you probably already know that one minute it can be sunny and the next it is stormy with flash floods and fallen branches. This is a common occurrence in Middle Tennessee, so it is important to be cautious and prepared if disaster strikes your own landscape. If the worst occurs and a tree or a large branch falls and causes damage or obstruct a driveway or road, stay level-headed and have an action plan.

Keep these things in mind during those volatile summer thunderstorms:

Remain calm
It is easier said than done, we know! But staying calm will keep things running smoothly from the moment the tree falls until the damage has been fixed and things are back to normal. Remember that we are here to help! Our team of experienced arborists knows how to quickly and efficiently resolve the problem.

Assess the damage
Check to see what damage has been done. Ultimately, assess the situation and the damage to ensure everyone’s safety. Your family’s safety is our number one priority. If there is structural damage to your home, call for help immediately. If the trees are obstructing a roadway, check to see if any alternate routes are available. If power lines are down, call the Nashville Electric Service to report an outage. Insurance companies will need to be called if there is property damage, so make sure you have the correct number handy.

Call the Emergency Team Service
Our tree service can take care of multiple emergency needs such as removing trees and large branches from roadways and other structures. Licensed and insured, our team of emergency experts will remove the fallen tree from your landscape or roadway so your life can get back to normal quickly.

Schedule follow-ups for other trees
One of the biggest recommendations we make to our clients is to schedule regular tree service check-ups. While some emergency situations are out of our hands, a lot of fallen trees can be avoided if an arborist had previously come out to check on the trees. An arborist would be able to alert Nashvillians if trees are at risk of falling due to decay, disease or other issues.

Nashville weather is fickle, which is why it is important to stay prepared! When in doubt, contact our emergency team and they can assist you with any issues you might come across. Damage from storms can cause stressful situations, but rest assured the Parke Company has you and your property covered. Contact our emergency tree service for more information or to discuss your needs for tree care within the Middle Tennessee area.

Parke also offers a wide variety of landscape services including irrigation, maintenance, design and non-emergency tree care services. They can assist you in summer storm clean-up and irrigation repair, if needed. Fallen branches and leaves from a storm can be an overwhelming chore. Do not go at it alone. Call us today for more information. Happy summer!

School has started. Take your science or history classes outside!

September 30, 2026April 19, 2023 by The Parke Company

If you haven’t already noticed, school is back in full swing. Your kids are grabbing their notebooks and pencils and sitting back in the classroom. But it’s still summertime! So how can they learn but spend time outside and enjoy the weather before it starts getting cold? The Parke Company is always encouraging Nashvillians to get out and enjoy the trees and landscape of Middle Tennessee. We have a beautiful state, so it’s important to take advantage of it.

So whether you’re a teacher and want to get the classroom outside or you’re a parent and your children need to expel some energy outside, there are many ways they can learn by using the trees and landscape the Parke Company cares for everyday.

Here are just a few creative ways:

Learn about photosynthesis

It’s almost fall, y’all! Take this opportunity to teach the kids about how photosynthesis works and why the leaves change color in the fall. The days are getting shorter, the leaves will begin to drop to the ground, so what better time than now to learn a little science? Start now while the leaves are at their greenest and follow the branches and their leaves as they begin to turn throughout the upcoming months.

Use plants to identify types of trees

This is another great way to get people outside and looking at the trees around them. Use the leaves as a tool to identify the different kinds of native trees in our area. Examine the branches and the trunk, too. Better yet, have one of Parke’s certified arborists come out and show you different types of trees, how to tell if they’re healthy and what to do if they’re not.

Study Nashville’s historical trees

If you’re not much of a science nut but you love history, you can still utilize trees around the area to learn. Nashville is rich with history and it goes all the way to some of our oldest trees. We have the Witness Tree (among many others) and even some of the old trees in historic parks like Percy Warner. Speak with an arborist about different historic trees around Middle Tennessee and check them out! You never know what history you might learn!

Plein air painting

This activity is great for those who love to be outdoors but also love art and painting! Take a class or bring your supplies out to your backyard and paint some of the Nashville landscape. It’s a great way to bring your artistic talents to the table while enjoying our ecosystem.

There is so much to learn outside. Don’t let a schoolroom stand in the way. Want to learn more about trees and tree care? One the Parke Company’s arborists can help guide you in the right direction. If you need tree care services or any landscape or yard maintenance needs, we can take care of that too. Just give us a call and we’ll be happy to help.

Avoiding Common Landscaping Mistakes

September 30, 2026April 19, 2023 by The Parke Company

If you are an avid DIY enthusiast, you’ve probably taken a stab at doing a little landscaping in your Nashville lawn. The upside of DIY projects is the satisfaction of learning new skills and using them in a hands-on project. The downside is when you discover your knowledge is an inch deep, but the topic is a foot thick. That’s when the mistakes start showing up.

While many of us grew up pushing a lawn mower and pulling weeds from our parent’s lawns, these experiences don’t really count as in-depth lawn care training. That said, the founder of The Parke Company graduated from his parent’s lawn to cutting grass for neighbors and started his business while still in high school. Thirty years later, he is a certified arborist and has a deep understanding of landscaping services and tree service issues.

Most of us don’t go in that direction.

All of us want our lawns to be attractive and nearly everyone will have a stab at landscaping. However, almost everyone will make mistakes in their efforts to beautify their outdoor space. Some mistakes can be costly, some can be time consuming, and others simply end up disappointing.

How to Avoid the Most Common Lawn Care Mistakes

With more than 30 years in the lawn maintenance business, the pros at The Parke Company have seen just about every type of lawn care and landscaping error possible. Listed below are some of the most common and how to avoid making them yourself.

Scalping the Grass

Everyone wants their lawn to look neat. Neat being defined as having that “just cut” look. Unfortunately, this perception of neat leads many homeowners scalping their lawns. How high or low you mow the grass determines how much moisture will evaporate from your yard, how healthy the grass plant is, how thick (or sparse) the grass grows, and impacts the habitat of both desirable and undesirable insects and pests. The solution is to know what kind of grass you have and what its optimum height is. Professor Google can give you the information with one or two quick searches.

Not Researching New Plants

Young plants and trees are not puppies. You cannot judge their mature size by the size of their paws. If you plant a new shrub or sapling without considering its likely mature size, you are in for a problem. Shrubs planted near the house could block a window in a couple of years. Worse yet, trees planted too near the home could result in roots invading the foundation. Before you plant anything, make certain you understand how big it can get. Consider how that mature size will impact the area immediately around it.

Go Easy on the Lawn Gnomes

Ornaments and hardscapes have a place in a lawn. But too many of these items will detract rather than enhance your lawn. Use ornamentation sparingly and you will succeed in drawing attention to it.

Forgetting that Hedges are not Self-Trimming

Hedges are a great way to gain some privacy from neighboring houses or to section off a part of your lawn. But hedges are not static. They grow. If you are not shearing your hedges on a regular basis they can quickly grow to a height where you will need a step ladder to reach the top. An electric hedge trimmer should be purchased at the same time you buy the hedge shrubs.

Pruning at the Wrong Time

If you have flowering bushes you absolutely need to know when to prune and when to leave them alone. Failing to prune a shrub such as forsythia at the correct time can result in the loss of the very buds that bring you the beautiful blossoms.

Do any of these situations sound familiar? We haven’t even touched on taking care of the soil. Landscaping and lawn maintenance takes on a whole new complexity than when you were a kid because now it’s your lawn and your investment.

Want help? Our fully knowledgeable professionals can take on part or all of your Nashville lawn maintenance tasks. Call us now!

When Is the Best Time to Restart Your Irrigation System in Nashville, TN?

September 30, 2026April 10, 2023 by The Parke Company

Nashville is no stranger to weird weather—from high heat to abnormally cold winters, we’ve seen it all lately. With winter slowly fading to spring, you might be wondering when the optimal time to restart your irrigation system for the growing season is.

How to Restart Your Irrigation System

Winter has finally relented, and things are finally warming up. The days are longer, and your green thumb is starting to itch. Whether this is your first or fifteenth year of using an irrigation system, it never hurts to review that yearly springtime irrigation start-up process. Whether you’re starting your irrigation system back up by yourself or are having landscapers like The Parke Company handle things, it helps to know how to restart an irrigation system.

The first step will be outside at your vacuum breaker fitting. Here, you’ll usually see a right-angled pipe with several shut-offs and a copper top. There are generally two test cocks that jut off from the pipe horizontally, and these need to be closed. During the winter, these let air into the system to prevent ice from forming in the lines. During the summer, they should be closed.

On some systems, there are bleeder caps that will go onto these test cocks. Once you close them, ensure these caps are tightly screwed back in place. Once these are closed, you’ll open the two shutoff valves on the vacuum breaker. By turning the handles to run parallel to the pipe, they are now open.

The next step takes us inside or near where the sprinkler system connects to the water, which can sometimes be outside. Turn the valve using the handle or specialized sprinkler valve key until the valve is open. This lets water back into the sprinkler system. Now, turn on your sprinklers at the main control point, observing each to make sure that the sprinkler heads are functional and free of damage. Inspect your lines and valve box for leaks or sputtering. It’s normal to observe the sprinklers sputter and blow air when they first start up, so don’t worry if that happens.

When Is the Best Time to Restart Your Irrigation System?

When should you turn irrigation back on? Erring on the side of caution regarding the last frost of the year is critical to making sure your system restarts properly and is undamaged. Frost above and below ground is a factor, so even if things are warming steadily, ice underground typically takes longer to thaw. It’s easy to check with a small spade or other tool. For Nashville, the very latest that frost occurs is in mid-April, so the best bet is April 15th or a bit later. For instance, with this winter season, things seem to be a bit warmer, and the Farmer’s Almanac puts April 7th as the last possible frost for our area. This isn’t an exact science, however, so keep an eye on weather forecasts.

Landscapers will often begin restarting systems in mid-April, but most yards won’t suffer if it doesn’t happen for a bit after that. Spring is generally fairly wet here, so your irrigation system may not be necessary for the first few warm weeks anyway. So the best time to restart your irrigation system in Nashville is mid-April. With this in mind, you should be well-prepared to get a great start on watering your landscaping every spring.

Maintaining and Upgrading Your Irrigation System

Equally important to starting your irrigation system at the right time is properly maintaining it while it’s operating and in the fall and winter months. From properly winterizing an irrigation system before the first frost in fall to protecting sprinkler heads from damage in the winter, a lot of hard work goes into maintaining a system. An irrigation system that’s well cared for can last for years, but not everyone has the time to do that. Leaving the irrigation work to your landscaper can be a great way to remove the stress of caring for your lawn and plants. For many people, gardening is a great hobby that can be incredibly fulfilling, but maintenance isn’t everyone’s strong suit. When you just want to get to the pruning, planting, and designing, hiring a landscaper can help relieve a lot of pressure.

Irrigation in Nashville is very important during dry summer months, but making sure everything is operating at peak efficiency can be tricky if plumbing and technology aren’t your strong suits. As every bill goes up with inflation, keeping your water bill low while still caring for your plants can only be done with a solid, fully functional irrigation system. Conserving water is a major part of what makes modern irrigation systems so important for our budgets and our environment.

If you’re exploring your landscape maintenance options, you may have stumbled upon The Parke Company. Just like there are many different types of irrigation systems, there are also a variety of different irrigation companies around Nashville. What separates The Parke Company from the rest is our year-round commitment to our customers, and we hope that’s obvious as we help with your specific needs. It’s our goal to provide general advice for handling things like irrigation here on our blog while giving you the information you need for using your particular system as well, whether that’s on the phone or in person. We offer landscape maintenance plans that can include irrigation maintenance, from winterizing to health checks and spring restarts.

If you need more advice on when to start your irrigation system this spring, do not hesitate to give us a call. Don’t let those lingering winter worries keep you from getting the best start this growing season.