Our story
About Tall Order
Who we are, what we do, and why we still climb.
Trees make a street a neighborhood
Caleb Whitlock started Tall Order in 2012 with one truck, one chipper and a simple idea: a tree crew should be as careful with your yard as you are.
He had spent nine years climbing for other companies. He saw healthy trees taken down because removals pay more, and roofs dented because someone skipped the rigging to save an hour.
So Tall Order does it the other way. An arborist looks before anyone quotes. Ropes before gravity. Insurance papers before the first cut.
Today we're 11 people and 3 crews working across Knoxville, Farragut, Maryville, Oak Ridge, Powell and nearby towns.
We still answer our own storm line. We still rake every yard. And for every tree we take down, we offer a native sapling to plant back, because the street should keep its shade.
That's the whole business, really. Big trees, safe hands, a clean yard and a fair price you saw in writing first.
What we stand on
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Safe first, fast second
Helmets, chaps, ropes and a drop zone on every job. A crew that rushes is a crew that drops a limb on your roof.
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Save it if we can
An arborist looks before anyone quotes a removal. If pruning fixes it, that's what we recommend.
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Leave it cleaner
Chips gone, lawn raked, gutters checked for twigs. The yard should look better than when we arrived.
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Same price, any weather
The price book doesn't change when a storm hits. The only add-on is the posted after-hours rate.
Meet the crew
The people who'll be in your yard and on your phone.
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Caleb Whitlock
Owner and certified arborist
Certified arborist, risk assessment qualified
Caleb climbed for other crews for nine years before starting Tall Order in 2012 with one truck and one chipper. He still does most of the quotes himself and would rather save a tree than sell a removal.
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Marisol Ortega
Crew lead and climber
Certified arborist, aerial rescue trained
Marisol runs the big removals and crane days. Her ground crew calls her the rope whisperer, because things she lowers land exactly where she says.
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Dez Carter
Plant health tech
Licensed for tree treatments (demo credential)
Dez handles feeding, soil care and pest treatments. He's the one who tells you to water less and mulch wider, and he's usually right.
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Bri Haskins
Office and storm dispatch
Answers the storm line on the first ring
Bri books quotes, sends insurance papers before every job and runs the storm list in order of danger. If you called us, you talked to Bri.
- Trees down safely
- 1,900+
- Seasons in Knoxville
- 14
- Average from 186 reviews
- 4.9
Every job ends with a rake.
Chips gone, lawn raked, gutters checked for twigs, cones packed. If you can tell we were there, we're not done.
Free quotes · Insured crews · Certified arborists
Let's meet your trees.
Five quick steps, photos welcome. A certified arborist replies the same business day with a time to walk the tree.