Tullahoma Tree Board

05/19/2026

During the 2024 planting season, a Purple Smoke Tree (Cotinus coggygria) was installed at the East Park Arboretum. Within 2 days of planting, deer ate back every new shoot on it down to nubs and we thought for certain it was a goner. Even so, deer guards were placed around what was left, and nature took it's course.

Today, this multi-stem beauty has rebounded to just over six foot tall and is healthy as a horse! Smoke Trees are a native plant alternative to Crape Myrtle and grows as a deciduous shrub or small tree. It is famous for its deep maroon-purple foliage and billowy, smoke-like pinkish-purple summer plumes. It thrives in full sun, grows 10–15 feet tall, and is highly drought-tolerant once established.

04/25/2026

04/24/2026

The Art of Trees exhibit starts tonight! We hope to see you there. Happy Arbor Day 2026!

04/24/2026

This is a great example of "old growth" and "new growth" in a standard construction 2x4. The old board on top has about 60 growth rings… the new one? Around 10-20.

More rings usually means tighter wood grain and denser, stronger wood that burns slower, holds up better to invasive insects, and will withstand high winds and natural factors. Today’s lumber needs require young trees be harvested asap for production. A hundred years ago, lumber came from natural "old growth" forests, and there aren’t many of those left.

This is a small nod to the impact of tree preservation of older trees rather than clear-cutting and planting new. Older trees will withstand more abuse from human-caused damage, weather pressures, and pests. New trees are great, but are more susceptible to these maladies at an early age. This makes the case for protecting what older trees you have while planting new, rather than a clear-cut and all new plantings plan. If you are building or developing a land area, consider protecting your existing forest. Your home-buyers will thank you for it later.

02/20/2026

Forest and brush line management with prescribed fire (also called controlled burning) is an important part of natural ecological processes. Controlled burning has deep historical roots, where the practice was quickly adopted from the early Native Americans by early European settlers. It became used widely, primarily to improve forage conditions for free-ranging cattle and to improve visibility and access to overgrown areas. Today, prescribed fire is a valuable tool for fuel management by reducing wildfire fuel loads, and ecosystem and wildlife habitat restoration.

From forests to grasslands, the ecosystems at Arnold Air Force Base have adapted to and, in some instances rely on, natural or human disturbance events.Some examples of natural disturbances include