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Crown Thinning for Nashville’s Urban Forest

January 17, 2025May 12, 2024 by The Parke Company

Pruning trees is an important practice in urban areas where environmental and man-made factors can adversely affect a tree’s health. Read on to learn more about what crown thinning is, what it does, and how it’s important to trees in Nashville.

What to Know About Crown Thinning

Defining Crown Thinning

A tree crown refers to the leaves, branches, and fruit that extend off from the trunk. A crown is perhaps more commonly referred to as the canopy of a tree, but the terms are interchangeable. A tree’s crown is the structure through which the tree gathers many of its nutrients. Leaves absorb sunlight and carbon dioxide, producing nourishment for the tree and “exhaling” oxygen. A crown also includes the fruit or nuts of a tree. Crown thinning is the practice of removing branches and limbs from the tree’s crown. This is a common pruning method in cities and suburban areas where trees need some help with pollutants, man-made structures impacting their sun exposure, and other urban environmental factors. Crown thinning is often necessary in urban areas because of how a tree may interfere with city infrastructure.

The Importance of Crown Thinning

There are many upsides to crown thinning trees in urban areas, and this practice can equally benefit the tree and the people around it if done with care. Consider crown thinning a tree haircut. It’s not a drastic act; in fact, removing too many limbs can be harmful to a tree. When thinning a tree’s crown, the canopy is thinned methodically and with purpose. Some of the main reasons for thinning a tree’s crown include improving views, reducing a tree’s wind resistance, and allowing sunlight to better reach the ground. Sometimes, a tree grows too big and blocks a landmark or a stellar view, and pruning it a bit can help restore the vista without harming the tree. Whenever an arborist is confronted with an aesthetic concern like this, their first priority is saving the tree if it’s healthy (and not a threat to its surroundings). Crown thinning is a big part of maintaining a city’s greenery while ensuring residents are safe and happy with their sightlines.

Crown thinning is practiced more in areas that are subjected to severe weather like thunderstorms, snow and ice storms, and high winds. Nashville is no stranger to any of these weather events, so it’s no surprise that crown thinning is a part of the city’s tree maintenance strategy. Crown thinning can allow wind to blow through a tree so it doesn’t get pushed over. This prevents homes and infrastructure from sustaining damage in storms and also ensures that the tree will live longer. Crown thinning can also give smaller trees and plants in the shade of a tree a fair chance to thrive. Trees can shade garden beds, plants, and developing trees and prevent their development and growth. By thinning the crown of a tree, you can effectively produce a greener space from the ground up.

One common practice in cities is a slightly more involved form of thinning called crown raising. What does raising the crown of a tree mean? To put it simply, it’s the act of removing lower branches from a tree. This is usually done to prevent the tree’s limbs from interfering with traffic, visibility, power and utility lines, and to prevent storm damage to city structures and homes. Chances are you’ve seen utility companies and arborists raising the crown of a tree before, but you may not have realized it. While it looks similar to general pruning, crown raising can drastically change the appearance of a tree over time. Fortunately, if done properly, this won’t harm the tree, and it can live on instead of being removed for impacting city living.

Proper Pruning

Crown thinning should be done in a controlled way to ensure the tree remains healthy. Improper pruning and thinning can allow disease and pests to damage the tree and eventually cause the tree to die. Effectively pruning a tree canopy is an involved process that requires the eyes and hands of a professional. The crown of a tree is critical to its health, and there are many things that can go wrong in the pruning process. The first pruning mistake that many people make when trying it on their own is over-pruning. Crown thinning should only account for a small percentage of the tree’s overall structure. Removing too much can greatly inhibit a tree’s ability to produce the nutrients it needs to survive.

The actual cuts a person makes when pruning a tree also matter. Remember: each cut on a tree is a wound, and it’s important to ensure that the wound is able to heal on its own. Improper cutting, whether from a bad angle or attempting to cut a branch that’s too thick, can allow diseases to enter a tree’s structure and kill it.

The time of year also matters to pruning. Winter is the best time to prune because trees lie dormant in the winter. Since the tree doesn’t have to focus on producing fruit or new leaves, it can focus its resources on healing the cuts from pruning. When raising the crown of a tree specifically, another mistake that you can make is pruning too quickly. Raising the crown of a tree can’t be done overnight. It can’t even all be done in a single season. Instead, getting a crown raised to the desired position can take many years. This prevents the tree from being traumatized too extensively. Much like people, trees can go into shock if their injuries are severe enough. Thinning the crown of a tree is best left to the professionals, so it’s important to consult an arborist when looking to prune your trees. If you’re looking for crown thinning in Nashville, you need to work with the experts.

Get It Right With Parke

The Parke Company has decades of experience pruning trees, and our arborists are ready to help you. If you’re ready to explore your crown thinning options, call us today for a free consultation and estimate. Your trees will be in good hands.

Landscaping Tips to Boost Curb Appeal

January 17, 2025April 27, 2024 by The Parke Company

Backyard with new bushes and enhanced curb appeal.

When you’re selling your home and looking for ways to enhance curb appeal quickly, why not start with what’s between the curb and your home? Here are landscaping tips and tricks to enhance your property’s landscaping to improve your home’s curb appeal.

How to Enhance Your Property’s Landscaping to Improve Your Home’s Curb Appeal

Front Yard Improvements

Selling a home can be stressful, and you might overlook key details of your home that could increase its value in the fray of preparing it for showings. How can you make your front yard look expensive without spending a fortune?

One of the easiest and most budget-friendly ways to improve the curb appeal of your home is landscaping maintenance and upkeep. A well-kept lawn and entryway to your property can go a long way toward making an excellent first impression on prospective homebuyers when they visit your home or look at photos online. The first step for improving your lawn’s overall appearance is to remove fallen sticks, pinecones, needles, leaves, and weeds. Depending on the season, mowing your lawn regularly and right before staged photos is a must. Cleaning concrete walkways and other existing lawn decor can help give your lawn a fresh and inviting feeling to people looking for a cozy place to live. Without adding a single thing to your front yard, you can clean it up and make a huge difference.

While cleaning things and keeping your lawn looking pristine can help improve your home’s curb appeal via the landscape, this alone won’t increase a home’s value by a significant margin. Making additions to your front lawn can have a great return on investment when it comes to your home’s sale price. Fortunately, additions to your lawn don’t need to be expensive to raise the property value. Adding garden beds and mulching can give a front yard a much more colorful palette that will draw the eye and get more people to check out your home. Flowers can add a quick pop of color that your home might desperately need. Other easy curb appeal landscaping strategies include planting new trees. Saplings give people the impression of newness in a home and instill homebuyers with a sense of growing alongside their new home. Picking the proper trees to plant in your lawn can be a challenge since some trees work in certain landscapes and others may not. Consulting a local landscaping company with a certified arborist can ensure that you’re picking the right additions to your lawn so that you not only enhance its beauty but also improve the local ecosystem.

Work with the experts at The Parke Company for all of your landscaping improvement needs, and you won’t be disappointed. When you’re selling a home, you may not have time to get to all the lawn care your property needs, and that’s fine. If you’re busy or just need a helping hand, let us take care of the maintenance, planting, and mulching in your front lawn.

Tree Care

How do you improve curb appeal with landscaping? Trees are a big part of your home’s overall look, so it’s important to make sure that your trees are healthy and maintained. An arborist is your best bet for improving the health and beauty of your trees. Arborist consulting services include things like pruning and removal, tree inventories, and planning new plantings depending on the needs of your property. In the event that a tree needs to be removed or pruned, you can count on a tree surgeon to properly and safely do the work that needs to be done. Pruning a tree yourself can be so much worse than giving your plants a bad haircut. Trimming even a few branches could lead to asymmetry and make the tree look lopsided. Trees also need to be pruned with precision to ensure that the tree doesn’t die. When you cut a limb, you create a wound in a tree. If improperly done, bad cuts can allow pests and diseases to enter a tree’s system and lead to costly removal services. Your home’s curb appeal is important, and trees are a huge part of what makes a property appealing. Don’t take the responsibility of tree care lightly.

Backyard Enhancements

Backyards aren’t something homebuyers see right away, but they can make a huge impression during a tour. Outdoor decor is one thing to focus on improving, but a growing trend in homes in the 2020s is outdoor living spaces. Buyers want to see outdoor furniture and covered spaces like pergolas, patios, and gazebos in the properties they’re shopping for. These additions to your landscaping aren’t cheap, but they offer a huge return on investment for sellers.

The importance of hardscapes in your landscaping in terms of curb appeal can’t be overstated. Besides patio furniture, pieces like fire rings and fountains can greatly improve your backyard space. While these hardscape upgrades aren’t necessary, these changes can substantially raise the price and attract new buyers. A well-decorated backyard with substantial entertainment space is very important to homebuyers who are able to pay over asking price, and in today’s competitive real estate climate, that’s very important. Anything that can set your home apart from the others on the market is a great way to drum up interest and increase the number of bids, giving you more money than you’re asking for. Homebuyers want to see a home with unique traits inside and out, and hardscapes are a great way to give a home character. In the Nashville area, there is no better option for a landscaping company than The Parke Company. We have decades of experience installing complex and simple hardscaping, and quality is our first priority.

Does Landscaping Help Sell a House?

While it’s important to focus on your home’s structure and interior design before selling, neglecting your green spaces is a major missed opportunity. Curb appeal counts in a big way when luring in potential buyers. And if you plan to list your home, it’s never too early to start boosting its curb appeal. Get the greatest value when selling your home by calling the pros at The Parke Company today.

Emergency Tree Services: Actions for Disasters

October 11, 2024April 11, 2024 by The Parke Company

Trees are sturdy and capable of putting up with a lot, but between old age, disease, and extreme weather, they can fall. Here’s what you can do when disaster strikes and your tree sustains damage.

What to Know About Emergency Tree Services

Is It a True Emergency?

Sometimes, it’s incredibly clear that a tree is damaged; you may see fallen limbs or a total collapse. In some situations, however, signs of damage might be internal and not pose an immediate risk to your property. It’s important to know what to look for and determine whether or not your tree needs prompt attention. Emergency tree service is more costly than regular maintenance, so if you can avoid it by keeping tabs on your trees, you may save yourself a lot of money in the long run. Trees are susceptible to disease, especially if they’ve been damaged by storms or wind. After a windstorm, look for fallen limbs and other signs of tree damage. While a fallen branch or two isn’t a cause for concern, fallen limbs may show signs of disease or allow infection to enter the tree. Rotten or dry limbs that fall after a storm are a sure sign of widespread disease in a tree. These trees are susceptible to falling in future storms and should be dealt with immediately. Removing a tree before it poses an emergency risk is important to keeping your property and yourself safe.

What’s Included in Emergency Tree Service?

When you think of emergency tree service, you may jump straight to emergency tree removal service. Removing fallen trees is only one aspect of emergency tree service. There are many other emergency services that may be necessary following a Nashville severe storm or wind event. Rest assured, a lot of emergency services don’t call for complete removal of your tree. While cleanup is certainly a big part of emergency tree service, so is evaluating the property for other high-risk trees and removing any trees that may pose a threat to your home or safety. Sometimes, when a limb falls from a tree, the tree can recover and remain healthy. On other occasions, a fallen limb is a warning sign that trouble is on the horizon. An arborist performing emergency tree service can determine whether tree removal is the best bet and safely conduct that removal if it’s necessary. Sometimes, only pruning is needed after a tree sustains storm damage. Pruning a tree is not as simple as removing limbs. It requires precision and knowledge to ensure that the tree heals properly following a limb removal. How a branch is cut and where it’s removed from can determine a tree’s future health, so this task is best left to the pros. In some cases, after heavy winds, a tree may be unstable but still standing. Emergency tree service can help stabilize trees, allowing their root systems to recover and giving the tree a second chance at life. Stabilizing a tree usually involves using stakes and ropes to give the trunk support so it can grow straight, instead of crooked or sideways. Trees that grow back improperly after becoming destabilized are much more likely to fall and cause damage later on.

Proper Tree Maintenance

Preventative tree maintenance is an important thing to consider. Assessing the health of your trees on your own can be difficult, so don’t rely on your observations alone. Contact a tree specialist near you to perform a tree inventory of your property and ensure that future emergency issues don’t happen. Arborists are skilled tree surgeons who are well-versed in tree health, so they can check your trees over for any red flags. Most trees don’t make their issues obvious, so knowing what’s going on internally is key. Having an arborist examine your property for tree issues is the single most effective way to ensure that you won’t have trees fall during storms. Pruning limbs that are at risk of falling can ensure that your property doesn’t sustain damage and can keep the tree healthy. Tree removal is always the last resort, but it’s sometimes necessary. Fortunately, arborists can also help you plan which trees to plant on your property if any do need to be removed. Many trees can benefit neighboring plants or help to ensure that your soil is safe from erosion from heavy rain. Planning your tree inventory is an excellent way to beautify your landscaping and ensure it’s capable of resisting storm damage in the spring and summer months.

Who Can Help?

It’s very obvious when you need disaster relief tree service. Don’t hesitate or try to clean things up on your own because there are serious risks to DIY tree removal. If one tree is damaged, it’s possible that neighboring trees are also affected, and these could pose risks to your safety as you try to clean up. Certified arborists are skilled at assessing the health of your trees and can ensure that damaged limbs and trees are removed safely and efficiently. If a tree or multiple trees and limbs are down on your property during a storm, contact emergency tree service specialists near you. The experts at The Parke Company have been serving Nashville customers for decades, and we’re prepared to give you the peace of mind you need after a severe storm. Nashville weather is unpredictable, but you can count on us putting our best foot forward to remove your damaged trees, assess your property for safety concerns, and give you great value for the work done. We take emergency tree service very seriously at The Parke Company, and we’re very familiar with the sort of damage Nashville storms can cause.

Nobody wants to need any type of emergency service, but when your trees need attention, think of The Parke Company. If you’re looking to learn more about emergency tree services or tree maintenance services that The Parke Company can offer, give us a call today.

Landscape Installation Ideas for Nashville Properties

October 11, 2024March 26, 2024 by The Parke Company

Making additions to your property and lawn can sound daunting, but with the right landscaping company, you don’t need to worry. Here are some of The Parke Company’s best ideas for transforming your Nashville property into something truly breathtaking.

Landscape Installation Ideas for Nashville Properties

Hardscapes

Hardscapes are often overlooked aspects of landscape installation that shouldn’t be neglected on your property. Not sure what hardscapes are? A hardscape is any non-natural decor or many functional additions to your landscaping. Hardscapes include things like paved walkways, outdoor furniture, birdbaths, firepits, and fountains, to name just a few of the most common options.

Hardscapes are generally more expensive than other additions to your landscaping, but they are also a very solid investment. Adding patios, fountains, and other larger hardscapes can greatly improve your property value. Additionally, hardscape additions are usually convenient and can greatly improve the experience you and your guests have on your property. Hardscapes can be made of a variety of materials, from plastics like fountains and koi pond basins to natural stone for pavers or paths. Ensuring that your hardscapes are made from high-quality materials ensures their longevity and keeps things looking great in your yard for years to come. Opting for regular maintenance with your Nashville landscaping company will help ensure that the upkeep doesn’t all fall on you. At The Parke Company, we pride ourselves on doing the follow-through with all of our clients, and we offer a variety of maintenance plans for keeping your landscaping additions looking their best.

Balancing hardscapes with natural landscaping ideas is critical to ensure that your yard still feels like the outdoors, but it’s easy when you work with the pros. If you’re looking for landscaping in Nashville, look no further than The Parke Company. We have decades of experience installing hardscapes for countless businesses and homeowners, and we’re sure that we can work within your budget to turn your landscape installation ideas into a reality.

New Trees, New Gardens, New Mulch

The easiest and most affordable way to improve your landscaping this year is with new plants. Adding trees, flowers, bushes, and even vegetable gardens helps to enhance your yard and create a more sustainable ecosystem on your property. Planting strategy is one of our strong points, and we can help you set up an inventory of your trees and plants to determine what could help beautify and otherwise enhance your landscape.

The certified arborists at The Parke Company have helped individuals, businesses, and even towns manage their tree populations. Plant diseases like Dutch elm disease or pest threats like the emerald ash borer can be problems for your trees, and having an arborist inspect and prune trees can prevent these issues from occurring. Adding new trees, plants, garden beds, and bushes can help to keep your yard’s complex ecosystem in balance. This will help ensure that you’re doing less work, and many plants have benefits for you, too. Certain herbs or other plants like marigolds, citronella, and lavender can be added to a garden for vibrant color, but they also provide natural mosquito protection for your landscaping.

As mosquito populations soar with the spring wet season, it’s important to ensure your landscaping is properly draining so your lawn doesn’t become a breeding ground for insects. Landscaping can help more than you might think. Adding topsoil and properly grading your landscape can keep water from collecting, ensuring your plants are properly hydrated and no excess water soaks into the ground. Adding sod and replacing weak grass can also help ensure that your lawn looks better and is free of pests. Sod installation is a great way to get your lawn looking great in no time, and it can help ensure that you have a healthy root system keeping your soil safe. If you’re worried about erosion from spring and summer rainstorms, planting bushes and using mulch beds can help keep your topsoil safe and healthy. Root systems from strong and healthy bushes and grass can ensure that even inches of rain don’t run off with your nutrient-rich soil. Landscaping in Nashville is all about preparing for whatever weather spring and summer can throw at us, from heavy rains and winds to summer droughts. Planting trees and plants that can survive dry spells is important to ensure your landscaping is looking green even when it hasn’t rained in weeks.

Irrigation System Installation

On the subject of hydration, another landscaping installation you should consider is an irrigation system. Installing an irrigation system is an effective way to guarantee that your landscape is well-watered year-round.

An irrigation system usually employs sprinklers and underground water pipes to deliver water in equal supply across a property, focusing on the lawn and other plants that aren’t drought-resistant. In dry Nashville summers, this can mean the difference between a dead lawn with brown plants and a lush, green yard. Modern irrigation systems are incredibly efficient, and with proper installation, you can keep your water bills low and environmental impact to a minimum. Sprinkler system installation can be more costly than other landscaping services, but sprinklers can last for years if properly maintained. Combining drought-resistant plants with an irrigation system for your yard is an effective way to preserve your landscaping year-round. Scheduling seasonal tune-ups and shutting down the system as winter approaches are necessary to ensure your irrigation system lasts, so it’s important to schedule these things with your landscaping company. At The Parke Company, our technicians can install irrigation systems while keeping your lawn looking pristine and provide support in the following years. Leave the system backwashes and pre-winter draining to us. Budget for your system maintenance, and you’ll avoid costly damage and dry spots on your lawn when it matters.

Transform Your Outdoor Space With The Parke Company

No matter what landscape installation services you need for your Nashville property, the experts at The Parke Company are ready and able to get your projects done efficiently and on budget. If you’re ready to explore what The Parke Company can do for your property, give us a call today for a free consultation and estimate.

Impact of Professional Municipal Landscaping on Public Spaces

October 11, 2024March 13, 2024 by The Parke Company

Municipal landscaping services are a must for any town or city that wants to keep its greenery vibrant and thriving. Let’s explore the impact that professional municipal landscaping has had in Nashville and surrounding suburbs.

What to Know About Municipal Landscaping Services

What Are Municipal Landscaping Services?

Municipal landscaping services are one of The Parke Company’s specialties, as we proudly serve many municipalities in the Nashville area, including Belle Meade and Forest Hills. But what exactly do these services encompass, and what’s the benefit of having a private company handle your town’s landscaping? Much like commercial landscaping, municipal landscaping is larger in scale than residential services, covering a greater area and accommodating the specific needs of urban and suburban greenery. Since many municipalities have smaller budgets than the city of Nashville, tree and landscaping services are generally harder to coordinate and hire for. When you work with a landscaping company for your town’s needs, you can get the services you need without the large infrastructural changes that come with establishing a parks department or landscaper internally. In other words, your municipality can hire a landscaping company to do the work without worrying about internally managing a new department or group.

What Can You Expect From Professional Municipal Landscaping?

There are many landscaping services that people have come to expect from their municipal government. From public spaces like parks and gardens to services like leaf pickup, there are a great deal of landscaping necessities that a community needs to function well. Well-landscaped public spaces provide residents with a safer, more beautiful, environmentally friendly place to live. Boosting your town’s curb appeal with a landscaping company’s help can greatly improve property values and attract new residents to your area. City landscaping can be quite different from the services landscapers provide to private citizens, but there is plenty of overlap. One of the biggest needs individuals and cities alike have is leaf pickup. Thousands of tons of leaves are removed from Nashville properties each year, and landscaping companies like The Parke Company are responsible for a lot of that movement. Bagged leaf removal is an excellent service to offer your residents, and we can help support you with that. Leaves add up each fall, and the sheer volume of them can cause issues for lawns and storm drain systems. In addition to being unsightly, too many leaves can starve lawns or garden beds, allow fungus growth in trees, and block necessary storm drains during fall rainstorms. Leaf removal can keep public and private spaces looking their best and prevent costly damage to storm drains.

Another important municipal landscaping service is tree pruning and removal. In a municipal space, trees can pose threats to roadways, sidewalks, power and phone lines, and underground infrastructure as well as personal safety. Working with an arborist to perform a tree inventory of your town’s public space can help ensure your tree canopy is healthy and productive. Pruning dead limbs and trees can protect necessary services like electricity and internet and prevent property damage from fallen branches. Power outages require a fast response, but being proactive in maintaining power lines ensures that you won’t need to rely on emergency services when a storm does hit. Our team of certified arborists can help to assess your city’s trees and ensure their health. Pruning trees is an excellent way to protect them from disease or fungal infections. Tree inventorying can also ensure that the tree canopy provides adequate shade to sidewalks and roadways for comfort in the summer heat.

Storm cleanup is also a critical part of municipal landscaping services, and The Parke Company is well-equipped to help in a pinch. Removing fallen trees from roadways is a serious job, so leave it to the professionals. We are fully insured and able to quickly and safely clean up storm damage from your city’s streets and sidewalks. Landscaping and tree services are important, but what else can you expect from The Parke Company?

Enhancing Public Spaces With Municipal Landscaping

While maintenance like tree pruning and leaf pickup are critical for a municipality, it’s also important to do some ornamental landscaping in your city. The Parke Company can advise on and provide services to beautify and improve city greenery with services like landscape design, tree planting, and garden installations. In addition to these services, we can also install hardscapes in public areas like pergolas, gazebos, and fountains for functional aesthetics. Planting new trees along sidewalks can drastically cool city streets in the summer, providing higher levels of comfort for pedestrians. Trees and gardens along roadways can also prevent soil erosion, keeping dirt off the roads and grassy areas full. Mulching services can go a long way to keep erosion to a minimum, also ensuring that a tree’s root systems are safe and well-hydrated. We have a lot of knowledge on which flowers work well along roadways, so the things planted in your municipality will thrive and provide pops of color that last.

Nashville droughts can be pretty rough, so it’s important to consider irrigation system installation come spring. Irrigation systems are not cheap, but they can keep your trees and grass healthy and prevent much more costly reseeding and re-turfing after a dry spell. Whether it’s for a public park or a strip of at-risk grass along a busy road, The Parke Company can help install the proper sprinkler system for optimal hydration. Irrigation is critical year-round if the seasons stay warmer like they have been. So you can sometimes use your irrigation system in the fall and winter because while trees and grass are dormant, they still need water.

We Help Communities Thrive

No matter what services you need for your municipality, The Parke Company can help. We pride ourselves on having experience in assisting towns and cities with establishing or revamping their green spaces, so don’t hesitate to give us a call for an in-depth consultation and budget estimates for your specific services.