Common Tree Types In Middle Tennessee

Middle Tennessee has a good mix of trees: big oaks and hickories, spring dogwoods and redbuds, and a shorter list of evergreens that can handle our summers and heavy clay. If you live around Nashville, Franklin or Brentwood, most of the trees in your yard are probably on this list of common trees in Middle Tennessee, with notes on telling them apart. For natives specifically, our guide to native trees in Tennessee goes deeper.

Native Hardwood Trees of Middle Tennessee

Most of the trees native to Middle Tennessee are hardwoods, and these are the ones you’ll run into most.

Oaks: White, Red, and Black Oak

White oak (Quercus alba) has leaves with rounded lobes and no bristle tips, and the undersides are pale. The bark is light gray and flaky. Older ones can reach 80 to 100 feet.

Red oak (Quercus rubra) has pointed lobes that end in small bristles. It grows faster than white oak.

Black oak (Quercus velutina) looks a lot like red oak. The bark is darker and more deeply furrowed, and the inner bark is yellow to orange.

You’ll also see plenty of willow oak (Quercus phellos) around here. Its narrow, smooth-edged leaves look more like a willow’s than an oak’s. Shumard oak (Quercus shumardii) is a red oak relative that handles our alkaline soils well, and chinkapin oak (Quercus muehlenbergii) is right at home on the shallow limestone ground of the Nashville Basin. Its leaves have wavy teeth instead of deep lobes.

A note on pruning: oak wilt is a fungal disease spread partly by sap beetles drawn to fresh cuts. The Tennessee Division of Forestry suggests avoiding oak pruning from March through July, and UT Extension points to the dormant months (roughly December through February) as the safest window. Oak wilt has been reported in Tennessee in the past but hasn’t been detected recently, so this is mostly an easy habit to keep. Oaks also do best when nobody trenches or parks over their roots.

Maples: Sugar, Red, and Silver Maple

Sugar maple (Acer saccharum) gives us much of our orange fall color. Its five-lobed leaves have smooth edges between a few large points.

Red maple (Acer rubrum) has small red flowers in late winter, red leaf stems, and leaves with finely toothed edges. It handles wet and dry sites, and it’s the most numerous tree in Tennessee’s forests (roughly 1 in 10 trees in the U.S. Forest Service’s state inventory).

Silver maple (Acer saccharinum) has deeply cut leaves with silvery undersides that flash in the wind. It grows fast, but the wood is weak, so it tends to drop limbs in storms.

Maples often “bleed” sap from pruning cuts in late winter and early spring. It looks alarming, but it usually doesn’t hurt the tree.

Hickories: Shagbark and Mockernut

Shagbark hickory (Carya ovata) is easy to spot by its gray bark, which peels away in long, loose strips. Mockernut hickory (Carya tomentosa) has fragrant compound leaves and thick-shelled nuts that are hard to crack. Both are slow growing and long lived, with deep taproots.

Tulip Poplar: Tennessee’s State Tree

The tulip poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera), also called yellow poplar or tuliptree, is Tennessee’s official state tree. It’s actually in the magnolia family. Look for four-lobed leaves with a flat, squared-off tip, and tulip-shaped yellow and orange flowers high up in spring. Tulip poplars grow tall and straight, often past 100 feet in good soil, and they’re the second most numerous tree in Tennessee’s forests after red maple. Large ones near a house are worth a look after storms or long dry spells, when they sometimes shed limbs.

Flowering Trees in Middle Tennessee

Flowering dogwood (Cornus florida): a Middle Tennessee spring favorite. Dogwoods bloom in April with white or pink bracts and carry red berries in fall. You’ll sometimes hear dogwood called Tennessee’s state flower. The iris is actually the state cultivated flower, and the passion flower and Tennessee coneflower are the state wildflowers. Dogwoods like some afternoon shade and usually stay 15 to 30 feet tall. Mulch and a deep watering in dry stretches help, and it’s worth watching for leaf spots from anthracnose and the white coating of powdery mildew.

Eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis) is one of the first trees to bloom each year, with pinkish purple flowers on bare branches and heart-shaped leaves. It does fine in our alkaline clay as long as the spot drains. Redbuds grow quickly but aren’t especially long lived.

Magnolias are common too. Southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora), native to the Southeast’s coastal plain from the Carolinas to east Texas and planted all over Middle Tennessee, has big, glossy evergreen leaves and large white flowers in early summer. The non-native saucer magnolia blooms pink and white in late winter.

Evergreen Trees in Tennessee: What Grows Well in Middle TN

Middle Tennessee has fewer native evergreens than East Tennessee, and our humid summers and heavy clay can be hard on some popular nursery evergreens.

Eastern Red Cedar

Eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana) is the evergreen you’ll see most around here, and the Forest Service’s inventory lists it as the most common softwood in Tennessee. It’s technically a juniper, and it grows along fence rows, in old fields and in the rocky cedar glades of the Central Basin. The foliage is scaly and often bronzes in winter, and female trees carry small blue berry-like cones. It tolerates drought and thin, alkaline soil. Red cedars can host cedar-apple rust, so it helps to keep them some distance from apple and crabapple trees.

Pine Trees in Tennessee

Yes, there are native pine trees in Tennessee, and a few grow in the middle of the state.

• Virginia pine (Pinus virginiana): short, twisted needles in pairs. It moves into old fields and rocky ground.
• Shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata): needles in bundles of two and sometimes three. It’s native across much of the state.
• Loblolly pine (Pinus taeda): long needles, usually in threes, and fast growth. It’s native to the southern edge of the state and planted widely elsewhere.
• Eastern white pine (Pinus strobus): soft, blue-green needles in bundles of five. It’s native to East Tennessee and parts of the Cumberland Plateau, and it’s planted a lot here, though it can yellow in heavy, alkaline clay.

Broadleaf Evergreens: American Holly and Southern Magnolia

American holly (Ilex opaca) is a native evergreen with spiny, leathery leaves and red berries on female trees. It grows slowly and takes shade better than most evergreens. Southern magnolia makes a big, dense screen if it has room. Local nurseries also sell a lot of Nellie R. Stevens holly, a faster-growing hybrid popular for privacy rows.

Privacy Evergreens: Green Giant, Leyland Cypress, and Cryptomeria

Green Giant arborvitae tends to be reliable when it has room and decent drainage. Leyland cypress grows very fast, but in our heat and humidity it’s prone to canker diseases and bagworms, especially when the trees are packed tight. Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica) has soft, reddish, peeling bark and a tall, narrow shape. Spacing any of these for their full mature width helps a lot with disease.

Spruce, Fir, and Hemlock

Spruces and firs aren’t native to Middle Tennessee, and most struggle in our summers, though Norway spruce usually copes better than Colorado blue spruce. Eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) is native to Tennessee, mostly in the eastern part of the state and in cool, shaded ravines. It’s under serious pressure from the hemlock woolly adelgid, a tiny insect that leaves white, cottony tufts on the undersides of twigs.

One tree that often gets mistaken for an evergreen is bald cypress (Taxodium distichum). It is a conifer, but it drops its needles every fall after turning rusty orange. That’s normal.

Common Trees in Nashville

From East Nashville to Green Hills to Bellevue, you’ll see many of the same trees:

• Tulip poplar: tall, straight trunks and tulip-shaped spring flowers.
• Red maple and sugar maple: a big share of the city’s fall color.
• Willow oak, Shumard oak and white oak: common shade and street trees, especially in older neighborhoods.
• Hackberry: tough, fine on limestone, and easy to spot by its warty, corky bark.
• Sweetgum: star-shaped leaves and spiky “gumball” seed pods.
• Sycamore: patchy white, tan and green bark, common along creeks and the Cumberland River.
• Southern magnolia and eastern red cedar: the two evergreens you’ll notice most around town.
• Dogwood and redbud: much of the spring color.
• Callery (Bradford) pear: white flowers in early spring with a smell most people don’t love.

Much of the city sits on limestone, with shallow, alkaline soil and rock close to the surface. Shallow soil means shallow roots, which is one reason big trees here can come down in wind or when the ground is soaked.

Emerald ash borer was first found in Davidson County in 2014 and has since spread across much of the state. Untreated ash trees usually die once it arrives, so if you have an ash you’d like to keep, it’s worth asking about treatment early. Bradford pears have narrow branch angles that make them prone to splitting in wind and ice, and the Tennessee Invasive Plant Council lists Callery pear as an invasive species. It made our list of the worst trees to plant in Tennessee. If a tree in your yard is leaning, splitting or dropping dead limbs, our Nashville tree service page explains how we can help.

Picking the Right Tree for Your Soil

Much of the Nashville Basin has alkaline clay, where redbud, hackberry, chinkapin oak, Shumard oak and eastern red cedar tend to do well. Parts of the Highland Rim around the Basin have more acidic soil, which suits dogwood, sourwood, shortleaf pine and white pine better. A soil test through your county UT Extension office takes out a lot of the guesswork.

Low, wet spots suit willow oak, sweetgum, river birch and bald cypress. Dry, rocky ridges suit post oak, chinkapin oak and red cedar. It also helps to check a tree’s mature size before planting it near a house or power line.

Frequently Asked Questions

What evergreen trees are native to Middle Tennessee?

Eastern red cedar is the most common native evergreen here. Virginia pine, shortleaf pine and American holly are native too. Eastern white pine and eastern hemlock are native to Tennessee, but they’re more at home in the eastern part of the state.

What are the most common trees in Nashville?

Tulip poplar, red and sugar maple, willow oak, white oak, hackberry, sweetgum, sycamore, Southern magnolia, eastern red cedar, dogwood and redbud are all common, along with plenty of Bradford pears.

What is the state tree of Tennessee?

The tulip poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) is Tennessee’s state tree.

Are there pine trees in Tennessee?

Yes. Virginia pine and shortleaf pine are native to Middle Tennessee. Eastern white pine is native to East Tennessee and is widely planted farther west, and loblolly pine is native to the southern edge of the state and planted all over.

What is a good evergreen for privacy in Middle Tennessee?

Green Giant arborvitae, Nellie R. Stevens holly, American holly and eastern red cedar tend to do well here. Leyland cypress grows fast but is prone to disease in our humid summers.

Help With the Trees on Your Property

If a tree needs shaping, clearance from the roof or lines, or a dead limb taken out, our tree trimming and pruning services page has the details. If a tree has outgrown its spot or become a hazard, you can read about our tree removal services. If you’d like someone to take a look and talk it through, feel free to reach out for a free estimate. We’re happy to help.