The founder's story
I grew up in Haywood County, where the hemlocks along Cataloochee Creek were so thick you could stand in the middle of July and feel cold. By the time I finished forestry school, many of those trees were already graying out from woolly adelgid. That was the first time I understood that a forest can disappear quietly, one decision at a time.
After school I climbed for large commercial tree companies across the Southeast. I learned rigging, crane work and how to take down a hundred foot poplar over a house without touching the gutters. I also learned that the business model often rewarded removals over care. A healthy oak with one dead limb could turn into a full removal because the removal paid better and took less thought.
Walk the tree before you price it. That rule is still the whole company.
In 2009 I bought a used chip truck and started Canopy & Crown with a simple promise to myself: every estimate starts with actually looking at the tree. That means sounding the trunk, checking the root flare, looking up into the crown with binoculars and asking the homeowner what they love about the tree and what worries them.
What that looks like today
We are bigger now, with three crews, a plant health care specialist and a crane partner, but that promise has not changed. Every estimate is written by an ISA certified arborist. We recommend cabling, pruning or soil care whenever those options can keep a tree safe, even though it means a smaller invoice. When removal is the right answer, we say so plainly and do it with the same care.
When Hurricane Helene tore through Western North Carolina in 2024, our crews worked 41 straight days clearing trees from homes, roads and church parking lots. It was the hardest stretch in our history. It also reminded us why good pruning and early assessments matter. The trees that had been cared for mostly stood.
The canopy we leave behind
For every tree we remove, we plant a native tree in Buncombe County through local schools, churches and land trusts. As of this year that number is 3,118. It is our way of making sure the Blue Ridge canopy is a little fuller when we are done than when we started.
Everett
