Specular m-plane (1010) gallium nitride (m-GaN) epi-layer are grown on m-plane (1010) sapphire substrates by metal organic chemical vapor deposition using a three-step approach. A two-step approach was used to grow m-GaN buffer layer (BL), while a three-step approach was applied to improve the surface morphology of the top m-GaN epi-layer at high temperature. The three-step approach started with growing m-aluminum nitride nucleation layer with an optimized ammonia flux during the growth of aluminum nitride. Then the temperature was ramped up during the recrystallization step before the m-GaN BL deposition at low-temperature and the growth of m-GaN layer at high-temperature for the final step. Unexpectedly, when ammonia flow was intentionally halted during the recrystallization step, the surface morphology of the BL drastically changed from three- to two-dimensional with an abrupt cross-sectional structure. This in turn facilitated the complete coalescence of the m-GaN layer as revealed by field emission scanning electron microscopy. The three-step technique was found to affect the quality of m-GaN epilayer as the samples exhibit improved crystallinity with X-ray diffraction rocking curves widths of 4680 and 1980 arcsec along the azimuth, perpendicular and parallel to [1010] directions, respectively.