Belle Meade is a city of its own within Davidson County, with its own ordinances, and one of them shapes nearly every outdoor project: Ordinance 2019-11, the tree ordinance. Green Scene works here on landscape design, pruning and bed care, patios and walks, and lighting, and in each case the existing trees come into the plan early.
None of that makes a project hard. It means asking three questions sooner than you would elsewhere: how big is each tree in the way, does the city review changes on your street, and can the plan work around both.
Which trees does Belle Meade’s ordinance cover?
Any tree over 4 inches in diameter. Under Ordinance 2019-11, removing one needs a tree removal permit, and the application is published on the city's website. Four inches across is not a big tree.
For a hardscape project, the timing matters most. If a new patio, a walk or a sprinkler trench would take out a tree past that size, the permit has to be settled before the design is final and before a crew is booked. It belongs on the first walk around the yard, since every hardscape plan Jose draws starts with drainage and with what the build will do to the trees and plants already there.
Is part of Belle Meade a historic district?
Yes. The city has a Historic Zoning Commission and a Conservation Overlay, and the Belle Meade Golf Links Subdivision Historic District is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. If your home is in an area the city reviews, ask about it before the plan for a front walk, a wall or a new entry is settled, so the design doesn't have to be redrawn later.
How should a large tree be pruned?
Lightly, and in its season. Before the first buds of spring is a good time to plan the shape of a tree's canopy and make the cuts. The rule our crews keep is that no more than 15 to 20 percent of a plant comes off in a single cutting, and each species has its own best season for it.
Bad pruning does real harm. Cuts in the wrong place, or too many at once, leave a tree open to disease and insects and weaker in a storm. Shearing a crape myrtle flat across the top won't give you more blooms; it usually just leaves a misshapen tree. Regular pruning is part of our landscape maintenance, along with weeding, bed care and hauling away every clipping.
What does a design built around existing trees look like?
It starts with the shade you already have. The design team picks plants for the light each bed actually gets, places a patio or a walk where it can avoid a removal permit, and suggests lighting that uses the trees themselves, with fixtures at the base throwing light up into the canopy.
If you already have a plan, Jose prices it item by item; if not, our designers start from a blank page. Either way, the estimate is written and free, and a long-term plan can be built in stages. The landscape design page covers how that process runs, and the exterior lighting page has more on lighting a yard.