The seed
One van, two spades, and a rented lock-up in Oadby. The first Hartwell & Moss garden was 40 square metres of tired lawn — we still drive past it on purpose.
Design becomes a branch
We stopped building other people's drawings and started making our own. The rule from day one: design nothing we couldn't build with our own hands.
The build years
Stone, oak and water. We learned that a garden is a building site for eight weeks so it can be a sanctuary for thirty years — and that the order matters.
Planting, properly
We hired our first plantsperson and never looked back. A garden that only looks good on handover day isn't finished — it's abandoned. Ours are planted to peak in year three.
Then, the light
Lighting design gave every garden a second life after dark — and gave us our sixth medal. Warm, layered, wired into the build from the first drawing.
A company shaped like a tree
Five branches — design, build, planting, lighting, care — one trunk of people who give a damn. Twelve of us now. Still no shortcuts, still the same rule: build it once, build it properly, keep it alive.