With Middle Tennessee in the heart of another active severe-storm and tornado season, New Horizon Tree Service is fielding a sharp increase in calls from homeowners looking to remove or trim hazardous trees before high winds, hail, and flooding peak across the region. The family-owned, ISA-certified arborist firm is ramping up storm-preparation work across the Nashville metro as homeowners act ahead of a season where insurance carriers have raised premiums and tightened scrutiny on tree-related claims.
March through May is Tennessee's primary severe weather window, with damaging straight-line winds, large hail, and flash flooding continuing to run high into summer. Forecasters expect another active stretch in 2026, with a weakening La Niña pattern favoring repeated rounds of severe thunderstorms with wind gusts above 60 miles per hour. Tennessee has averaged about 31 tornadoes a year over the past three decades, and 2024 ranked among the most prolific tornado seasons in U.S. history.
Against that backdrop, homeowners across Middle Tennessee are paying closer attention to the trees on their property. Dead limbs, decayed trunks, split crotches, and significant lean are common sources of storm-related damage in the region, capable of falling on homes, vehicles, fences, and power lines during high-wind events. Removing a mature tree after it has come down on a structure routinely costs several times more than addressing the same tree in advance.
The financial calculus has been sharpened by changes in the homeowners insurance market. Tennessee homeowners now pay among the higher rates in the country to insure a $300,000 home, and major carriers have raised premiums and tightened underwriting in response to record severe-storm losses across the Southeast. Policyholders increasingly face claim disputes when post-storm damage involves trees that were visibly diseased, dead, or unstable beforehand. Insurance companies do not direct homeowners to remove trees, but claim reviews increasingly weigh whether a tree's condition should have been known and addressed.
That dynamic has driven the rise in homeowner calls in recent weeks. New Horizon Tree Service is scheduling assessments and clearance work across the metro, prioritizing trees with visible structural concerns and those positioned near homes, driveways, fences, and overhead lines.
"Most of the damage we see in the aftermath of a storm could have been prevented with an inspection and some targeted trimming or removal earlier in the year," said Troy Zanko, owner of New Horizon Tree Service. "Insurance carriers are not telling homeowners to remove trees, but homeowners are figuring out on their own that a reduced or denied claim on a dead tree they knew about is a problem they can avoid by handling it now."
The company's pre-storm work begins with an arborist inspection to identify the trees and limbs that pose the greatest risk. Crews then handle crown thinning to reduce wind resistance, deadwood removal, structural pruning to correct weak unions, and full removal of compromised trees. Stump grinding, debris haul-off, and emergency storm response are available within the same scope.
New Horizon Tree Service works on tree species common to the region, including oak, maple, hickory, poplar, sycamore, and pine, and coordinates with utility providers when trees threaten power lines. The family-owned company is licensed, bonded, and insured, and serves residential and commercial property owners across Nashville and the surrounding Middle Tennessee communities.
Free, no-obligation property assessments are available, and the company recommends scheduling early so crews have time to address the highest-risk trees before the first major system arrives.
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For more information about New Horizon Tree Service, contact the company here:
New Horizon Tree Service
Troy Zanko
615-909-4911
newhorizontreeservice@aol.com
1108 McKennie Ave Office 107
Nashville, TN 37206