How we started
Hemi spent four years at the Hamilton Gardens as a grounds gardener — the Italian Renaissance one, then the Indian Char Bagh — before the mokopuna arrived and the night-shift weekend pattern got too much. In late 2015 he picked up three sections in Hamilton East from a retiring gardener mate, bought a half-decent battery mower at the Trade Hub, and worked it out from there. The shed on Te Aroha Street opened the following autumn.
The idea was simple: fortnightly rounds, three of us maximum, no franchise tier, no platform fee, and a written quote on the tablet before any work starts. Eleven years on the formula hasn't been touched. The phone is answered by Hemi, or by Tamati if Hemi is on a planting day out at Tauwhare, or by Jess if both of them are over a hedge.
The crew
Three of us, day in and day out, on the same ute and trailer. When you ring you reach one of them — not an agent, not a dispatch line.
- Hemi Walker — owner, Wintec Level 4 in horticulture, twelve years on Waikato sections. Best at the diagnosis call, the fruit-tree pruning, and the awkward "what's eating my buxus" question. Most likely to answer the phone Monday through Wednesday.
- Tamati Rangiwhetu — second gardener, six years with us. Native-planting specialism — knows which kānuka to put on a clay bank versus a sandy paddock edge, which harakeke variety the tūī will actually use, and how to keep a pittosporum from going leggy in a Waikato wind line.
- Jess McCallum — third-year apprentice, on the hedge and tree side. On track for her Wintec Level 4 in 2027. Best at the precision work — buxus topiary, espaliered fruit trees, the gallery-hedge along a Cambridge driveway.
How we work
Every job runs through the same four-step rhythm. There's no "premium tier" that gets done differently — every visit, regardless of whether it's an $85 fortnightly mow or a $2,400 native-planting day, goes through these steps.
- 1. Phone triage. Two minutes on the call — what's the section, what's wrong, photo by text if it helps. Slot booked into the fortnightly round where possible, otherwise a one-off appointment.
- 2. Walk-through scope. Hemi or Tamati shows up, walks the section with you on the tablet, photographs the trouble spots, notes plant lists. No timer running.
- 3. Written quote. Number on the tablet, line-item, materials and plants at supplier receipt + 10%. You sign before any secateurs come out.
- 4. Done. Green waste sorted into the kerbside bin (or carted off at $25 a load), paths swept, kerb tidied. Receipt by email before we leave the property.
Insurance & credentials
- $1,000,000 NZD public liability — through Vero Insurance, certificate emailed in fifteen minutes on any first request
- Member — NZ Master Landscaping & Garden Association — for what it's worth (not a regulatory body, but the standards are decent)
- GST registered with IRD — GST 122-489-376, 15% included on every quoted price
- Wintec Level 4 in horticulture — Hemi (2014), Jess (in progress, completes 2027)
- Site Safe induction — Hemi and Tamati both current, refreshed annually
We are not GROWSAFE-certified for agrichemical application at scale, we are not qualified arborists for work above five metres, and we are not landscape designers. For anything that sits outside our scope, we hand off to people we've worked with for years — Ben Carrington in Te Rapa for arborist work, Naturally Native in Tauranga for plant orders, and Frances at Cambridge Garden Design for full landscape plans.
What we don't do
This list is short on purpose. We say no to about a quarter of the calls we get, and we say it on the phone before anyone wastes time on a site visit.
- Tree felling over five metres, anything near power lines, anything that needs a chainsaw above shoulder height — referred to Ben Carrington in Te Rapa
- Full landscape design with hard-landscaping construction — referred to Frances at Cambridge Garden Design
- Lawn-only mowing rounds (we're not a mow-only operator — we want the whole section)
- GROWSAFE-scale agrichemical spraying — paddock work, gorse knockdown, anything that wants a certificated operator
- Stump grinding — referred to a Hamilton operator who carries the kit