Every company has a beginning.

Ours started with a dream, a grandmother, and one old landscape truck.

Bill Coleman has never been afraid of hard work.

Right out of high school, he was flipping steaks as a line cook at Western Sizzlin’ in Sandy Springs. A few years later, he was pouring drinks at Buckhead’s legendary Buckhead Beach. Bill loved the restaurant business. He loved serving people. He loved the fast pace. But deep down, he knew there was another chapter waiting.

At 26, he traded bar stools for wheelbarrows and jumped into the green industry.

He worked hard. He learned everything he could.

By the time he turned 30, Bill had become Operations Manager at Crabapple Garden Center in Alpharetta. Along the way, he built more than a career—he built friendships. The Chatham family, who owned the business, became mentors and friends. Bill even traveled with them on a mission trip to Estonia.

Then one ordinary day, everything changed.

The Chathams decided to sell the garden center. David Chatham pulled Bill aside.

“What if you bought the landscape truck and the equipment and started your own company?”

There was only one problem. The price tag was $35,000.

Bill didn’t have $35,000. Not even close.

So he went to see the one person who had always believed in him—his grandmother, Mimi. He asked if she would consider giving him his inheritance early.

Without blinking, she said yes. She handed him $35,000.

Not because she believed in landscaping.

Because she believed in Bill.

So, on February 12, 1992, Crabapple Turf Management began.

One truck. One crew.

From the very beginning, Bill focused his commercial efforts on serving community associations better than anyone else. Do great work. Keep your word. Take care of your customers. Treat your employees like family.

That simple philosophy worked.

One truck became five. Five became fifty.

Crabapple Landscape Experts now serves customers across Georgia from five branch locations with a fleet of more than 200 and a team of over 400.

Thirty-four years later, we’re still built on the same things that got us here: hard work, loyalty, quality, and doing the right thing—even when nobody’s watching.

People often ask how Crabapple became one of Georgia’s leading landscape companies.

We could tell them about the trucks. The branches. The awards. The growth.

But that’s not really where the story starts.

It starts with Mimi. She was practical. She was careful. She didn’t throw money around.

But when it came to Bill, she saw something special. She invested in a young man before anyone else did. And more than three decades later… I’d say she got a pretty good return. Not just on a truck. Not just on a business. She invested in a dream. And look what grew. Ah, Mimi.

She sure could pick ’em.