About Us

Nestled on the banks of the Tennessee River in Blount County, Lashbrooke Farm has been in the Spence family for over seventy years. In the early 1930’s Shirley and Emily “Mimi” Spence owned and operated a dairy farm, raised state and national championship Jersey cattle and American Saddlebred horses and lived on the land. The name “Lashbrooke” means “Just and Loyal” and comes from Spence’s 1932 World Champion American Saddlebred, Kalarama Lashbrooke. Their farm was the largest poultry farm in the county, employing and housing over 32 families.

In 1996 the Spence’s children sold over 400 acres of the farm. The center strip was kept and entrusted to a grandson, Jason Spence, who had started a wholsale nursery on the land. Soon after, Jackson Bend subdivision was developed on one side and most recently, Lash Brooke Estates on the other. The Spence’s grandson embraced the good fortune, determined to restore the home and history. His business, Lashbrooke Nursery, specializing in Japanese maples, provided him the opportunity to do just that. The fertile fields on the riverbank were a perfect spot for the greenhouses and shade houses, while the old horse stables were well-suited for office space.

Much has changed since Jason Spence’s start at Lashbrooke in 1993. Over thirty homes occupy the high end neighborhoods on either side of the antebellum home he inherited. On his forty acres sit the home, a guest house, and the nursery- still housing the Japanese maples. Now however, Spence relies on the nursery’s general manager, Scott Williams to handle day-to-day operations. Williams’ work ethic and desire matches that of Spence, making the two a good team. Together they work to build on Lashbrooke’s sound base with new approaches and improvements. Lashbrooke is the only wholesale nursery in the area that specializes in the Japanese maple.

In the beginning, less than 1,000 Japanese maples were sold yearly. Now around 60 different varieties of Japanese maples are offered with over 4,000 trees sold each year. Lashbrooke benefits from strong relationships, established over the years with west coast growers. Williams visits selective nurseries and maple farms, hand-picks each tree, then ships them back to Tennessee. The high-quality trees are bought in large quantity, allowing Lashbrooke to keep standards high but prices low. The price is unbeatable and the selection is unmatched.