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Nashville, Now is the Time for Tree Trimming

March 7, 2024March 7, 2018 by The Parke Company

Late winter, before the first spring growth, is the best time to trim most trees and prune shrubs. Wounds are only exposed a short time before new growth begins accelerating the healing process. There’s another practical reason for tree trimming in late winter. Bare branches give the arborist a better view of the tree’s structure, allowing for more accurate pruning decisions.

Speaking of arborists, Nashville’s leading landscaping service and tree service, the Parke Company, is a member of the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) and is staffed with ISA Certified Arborists. Trimming mature trees should be left to the professionals. Inaccurate trimming, particularly to the crown, can cause serious damage or even the loss of a mature tree.

What to Know About Tree Trimming

Tree Trimming Basics

Tree pruning isn’t done just to improve aesthetics. It can be a lot more complicated than that, and that’s why you want a professional doing it. The health of the tree, the health of the lawn beneath the tree, and the tree’s interference with structures or risk of wind damage all play a role in making tree trimming decisions.

On mature trees, the crown receives most of the pruning attention. Focus is placed on the extremities of the crown to keep a shape unique to the species. Trimming in close to the stem is usually done only to remove dead or dying limbs, or to allow more light to penetrate the crown and reach the grass at the base of the tree.

Limbs are also pruned back to avoid contact with structures or power lines. Prudent tree trimming significantly reduces wind resistance, lowering the risk of storm damage.

Common Types of Pruning

Crown Thinning. On young trees, this is the selective removal of branches throughout the crown. It promotes good health by letting light get to interior branches, providing good air movement, and removing weak branches.
Crown Raising. This is usually done on mature trees. Lower branches are pruned to “raise” the crown above turf, sidewalks, or streets.
Crown Reduction. When done properly, crown reduction is not crown “topping,” which should be avoided if possible. Crown reduction involves removing branches that are immediately above lateral branches, leaving no stub. This reduces the height of the tree without the hazards associated with “topping.” When a tree is topped (basically cutting off the top branches and stem) it exposes the tree to sun damage and insect infestation. It also causes a myriad of small and weak branches to grow, which have the potential to break or snap off, causing damage below.

A tree trimmer has to understand the “anatomy” of the tree being trimmed to avoid causing it serious harm. Only entrust a certified arborist to perform this task on your trees.

As we said earlier, now is a great time to prune your trees, and we invite you to call the Parke Company to arrange an inspection of your property. Give us a call today and we will have an ISA certified arborist visit and prepare an affordable estimate to take care of your “forest,” even if it’s a single tree.

7 Fast Growing Trees for Your Nashville Landscape

March 7, 2024February 28, 2018 by The Parke Company

While most of us probably take it for granted, we are lucky to have so many beautiful trees that prosper in Tennessee. Those trees can do a lot for a landscape. They give shade, color, vertical dimension, and they provide a habitat for birds, critters, and mostly useful insects. On the practical side, their shade can reduce energy bills, provide a windbreak, deafen traffic noise, and define property lines.

Trees are a valuable addition to a home. As a matter of fact, homes with Nashville trees sell faster than homes without, even if all other considerations are equal. Trees are a smart investment.

Here in Nashville, we not only have a wide range of trees to pick from, but many that are fast growing. Fast growing is a relative term when you’re talking about trees, but some species can grow 3 to 6 feet per year. When you think about transplanting trees, keep in mind that you won’t have to wait a generation to see the results.

What are the Fastest Growing Trees in Nashville?

Here are a few of our favorites, but be sure to read the caveat after the listing:

Autumn Blaze Maple. Award-winning foliage and rapid growth make this maple a favorite among Nashville landscapes. It is insect and disease resistant and provides amazing autumn color.
Thuja Green Giant. Another tree that is insect and disease resistant. Its root system requires a little space, so placement is important. That root system delivers 3 to 5 feet of growth per year.
Arapaho Crape Myrtle. This tree provides a bright red color from spring through autumn. It doesn’t mind tight spots and it is also disease and insect resistant.
Liberty Holly. Not for everyone, but it grows super fast almost anywhere you place it. It provides a dense screen and is fairly easy to maintain.
Tulip Poplar. Is six feet a year fast enough for you? This tree has beautiful yellow blooms in the spring and offers a golden foliage in the autumn.
Lombardy Poplar. Another six-foot-a-year grower that is great for windbreaks.
Autumn Cherry. Who doesn’t like cherry trees? Despite its name, the autumn cherry blooms both in the spring and the autumn. Giant white double blossoms provide an elegant presence. A very adaptable tree, it will grow almost anywhere.

While these are all fast growers, your results are going to depend on soil conditions, placement, irrigation, and other factors.

Enjoy the Beauty of New Trees Without the Hassle

If you decide to invest in new trees, you really owe it to yourself to contact Nashville’s leading landscaping service and tree service, the Parke Company. Our certified arborist can assist you in the selection and evaluate your property to determine the best placement. If your new tree is replacing a dead or diseased tree, we can do the tree removal and transplant.

Tree maintenance like tree trimming is a specialty of ours. At the Parke Company, we are equipped and staffed to handle all of your tree landscaping requirements. Give us a call today and we will be happy to share our suggestions for fast growing trees that will fit perfectly into your existing landscape.

What Can a Nashville Landscaper Do for You?

March 7, 2024February 23, 2018 by The Parke Company

Nashville is fortunate to have an abundance of lovely old homes surrounded by lawns and trees. The Parke Company, Nashville’s leading landscaping service and tree service, has been transforming those well-kept lawns into eye-catching landscaped spaces for years.

The difference between a well-maintained yard and a professionally landscaped lawn can be breathtaking. Curb appeal immediately goes up, but more importantly, a landscape gives the homeowner his or her own piece of private paradise.

At the Parke Company, we have been designing, installing, and maintaining these natural havens for homeowners in Memphis, Belle Meade, Green Hills, Oak Hills and other communities for over a decade. While we are probably best known for our tree trimming, tree transplanting, and tree removal services, we also provide a wide range of other services that enhance the total landscape.

Have You Considered?

If you are thinking about making improvements to your lawn but are unsure of what would work where, we suggest you sit down with our designer and talk about your ideas. Our designers and certified arborists see green space differently than most people. They know which trees thrive and provide shade, which shrubs complement which architectural styles, and how to lay out a landscape that will require minimal maintenance.

They deal with landscaping daily and you can trust their knowledge to make your dream lawn a reality. It’s about more than adding a flower bed and a bush.

The landscaping services we provide include:

Landscape design and installation. We will listen to what your objective is and then provide our ideas on how to best achieve that. Once the plan is approved, installation is quick, no hassle, and surprisingly affordable.
Sod. New and replacement.
Irrigation systems. We can install new systems, repair existing lines, or modify the lines to better irrigate the space.
Hardscapes. We can install a variety of water features, pagodas, screens, and other “hardscape” items.
Mulch service. We use both wood-based and pine straw mulch to protect your spaces from drought, weed infestation, and root disease.
Installation of pavers and walkways.
Tree removal, trimming, transplanting, stump removal.
Outdoor lighting. Decorative lighting to highlight your landscape or practical lighting for patios, decks, outdoor kitchens, etc.
Installation of firepits.
Flower beds. We prepare the beds, provide the bloomers, plant them, ensure there is adequate irrigation and drainage, and apply a layer of mulch.
Emergency tree service. When a bad storm hits the Nashville area, you can count on snapped limbs and even fallen trees. We provide quick response to our customers to ensure their property doesn’t experience additional harm from damaged trees.

The Parke Company is a member of the ISA, is an ISA Certified Arborist, belongs to the Tennessee Nursery and Landscaping Association, and is an IPCI certified installer for hardscapes. We know our business.

Contact The Parke Company

If you are thinking about creating your own outdoor space and you want it done professionally, we invite you to contact us today. We are happy to sit down with you and discuss the options that fit both your objectives and your budget. Call today.

Spring Cleaning Tips for Nashville Lawns and Landscaping

March 7, 2024February 15, 2018 by The Parke Company

You may think we are jumping the gun a bit talking about spring cleaning in February, but we’re not. If you are serious about getting your lawn and flower beds off to a great start this spring, you need to do some planning. What better time to plan than when the ground is still frozen and winter has put all your plants to sleep?

At the Parke Company, Nashville’s leading source of landscaping services, we don’t do much in the way of lawn maintenance in the winter. What we do is work on maintaining our equipment and plan landscapes for clients in the spring. Brainstorming before you actually tackle a spring cleaning will make the project go smoother and save you some cash as well.

5 Tips on How to Do a Nashville Lawn Spring Cleaning

So let’s take a look at this project with an eye towards what you are going to do and when.

Get inspired. It may be a gloomy day outside, but you need to be thinking about how you want your lawn looking when the warmer days of spring arrive. What shrubs, flowers, or landscape features do you want to add and where? Are you planting perennials or annuals or both? When? For inspiration, you can turn to magazines, scour the internet, or simply walk down the aisles of your favorite home improvement store. Write down what you are going to add, where (sketch a map), and when.
Visualize the end product. Your landscape should complement or contrast with your existing exterior colors and themes. Keep the color and architectural style of your home in mind when you are picking out blooming shrubs and flowers. When thinking about the placement of new shrubs, make sure you are not crowding walkways. Also, is that shrub a shrub or a small tree? Most plants will come with a tag that describes mature heights. You don’t want to block windows.
Ready for some exercise? When the smell of mud is in the air, it’s time for lawn maintenance. Grab some leaf bags, heavy gloves, scissors, a pooper scooper, and your trusty leaf rake and dive in. Scissors are often more efficient in cutting stalks from perennials than pruners. Your rake is your main tool. A good thorough raking will collect all the debris, trash, and feces that have accumulated over the winter. A solid raking will also reduce thatch. This up close and personal time with your lawn will also allow you to spot lawn problems that may have cropped up over the winter months.
Stake out your plan. Use the sketch you made and place stakes to plot out the areas where you will be planting new additions. With stakes in the ground, you’ll be able to better determine the number and placement of plants that you will actually need.
The heavy lifting. Now the real work begins. You’ll want to prepare garden beds by breaking up the soil and adding mulch. If you are creating a new bed, you may want to consider using garden fabric to create a barrier designed to minimize weeds. If you are a believer in chemical fertilizers, apply a weed and feed solution that includes a pre-emergent weed killer.

Give Us a Call

Your next step might be a call to us. Rather than doing the digging and planting, give the tree experts a call and we will be happy to get it done for you. Either way, you’ll be off to a great start for spring 2018.

Landscape Renovation in Nashville

March 7, 2024February 6, 2018 by The Parke Company

Landscape renovation is just one of the services that Nashville’s premier landscaping service, the Parke Company, provides to its many clients. Renovating your landscape is a great way to improve the appearance of your home and add significant value to it as well.

Your landscape renovation can be extensive, as found on old estate properties or a backyard that has seen better days. In this instance, size doesn’t matter, the Parke Company can help rejuvenate a landscape large or small. A renovation eliminates the need for an all-new installation. We can do an entire lawn or focus on a specific area like flower beds. Sometimes, adding a single hardscape feature can change the entire character of a lawn.

If your landscape is outdated, in bad shape, or if you just want a fresh look, you should consider a renovation as the solution. Whatever the renovation task, the professional arborists and ground crews of the Parke Company are ready to take it on.

Why a Landscape Renovation Makes Sense

The short answer is a renovation can cost significantly less than a complete overhaul and new installation. It’s less expensive because we can use what you already have and just enhance it. You get the fresh look at a reduced price without sacrificing any of the planning or services that you would expect from a new installation. We will work with you to create the exact landscape you have in mind.

If you are considering selling your home, an attractive, eye-catching landscape instantly improves curb appeal. A well-maintained landscape “announces” that the home will be of equal quality and gives the potential homebuyer a positive mindset before they even set foot in the house. A landscape renovation can result in a higher sale price and less time on the market.

What Areas of Your Landscape Would Benefit from a Renovation?

Sometimes it’s hard to see the forest for the trees. You know your lawn could use some updating, but you don’t know what exactly that “updating” should be. Here’s a quick list that our pros will take a look at with an eye towards renovation or addition:

Repair/replace worn or bald patches of grass/sod
Upgrade or add a firepit
Tree removal of badly damaged or diseased trees
Upgrade flower beds
Upgrade/replace shrubbery
Repair hardscape features like fountains, retaining walls, etc.
Install/repair paver walkways
Repair/replace outdoor landscape lighting
Relocate/transplant existing shrubs and trees

An investment in a landscape renovation isn’t just “fixing up the yard,” it’s an investment in your home. The exterior of your property is just as important to its value as the condition of your roof, exterior paint, or kitchen and bath upgrades.

While the Parke Company is principally recognized for its tree trimming, tree removal, and other tree services, we have the qualified designers, ground crews, and equipment to tackle your landscape needs, large or small. If it’s time to freshen up the look of your lawn, give us a call. We will be happy to sit down with you and plan out a renovation that will make your dream landscape a reality.