Gardeners and landscapers in Southport

How to choose a gardener in Southport

Decide first whether you want a regular round or a one-off job. A round is a gardener who comes every week or fortnight through the season to mow, edge, weed and keep hedges in check. A one-off is a clearance, a hedge reduction, a lawn laid or a fence put up. Many small Southport businesses do both, but they book differently, and a gardener whose round is full may still take a one-off job.

Get the quote in writing, even for a round. It should say how often they come, what is included, whether green waste is taken away, and whether disposal is charged separately. The waste line matters more than people think, because it is the one that can land you with a fine.

If the gardener takes waste away, they must be registered with the Environment Agency as a waste carrier. Anyone can check a name or a registration number on the Agency's public register in a minute. Ask for the number, keep the receipt or transfer note, and never pay cash for waste removal without one. If your waste is fly-tipped by someone you paid, the householder duty of care means you can be fined too.

Beyond that: public liability insurance, and for anything involving a chainsaw, an NPTC or Lantra certificate. Photos of past work in Southport and two local references tell you more than a star rating. A gardener who has been doing the same round in Birkdale for ten years is the safest hire in the town.

Garden waste in Southport

• Sefton's green bin is collected on a three-week cycle. It takes grass clippings, tree and shrub clippings, weeds, dead flowers and leaves. It does not take food waste, soil, plastic or cardboard, and if food waste is found in the bin the whole load is rejected. Source: Sefton Council, green bins
• An additional green bin costs £37 as a delivery and administration charge. Some properties get a weekly sack collection instead, up to four garden waste bags free of charge. Source: Sefton Council, garden waste collections
• The green bin service usually pauses over the winter months and restarts in early spring; check the council's collection days page for the current year's dates before you rely on it. Source: Sefton Council, garden waste
• Southport's household waste recycling centre on Foul Lane takes garden waste. Sefton's centres open 8am to 8pm from April to September and 8am to 5pm from October to March. Vans and trailers over two metres need a booking and are limited to twelve visits a year. Trade waste is not accepted, which is why a gardener cannot use the tip for your waste and why their carrier registration matters. Source: Sefton Council, recycling centres
• The Environment Agency's public register of waste carriers can be searched by business name, registration number, address or postcode. Upper tier registration covers carrying other people's waste; lower tier covers only a business's own waste. Source: Environment Agency, public register
• Householders have a legal duty of care to hand waste only to an authorised person. The government's guidance suggests recording the carrier's registration number and keeping a receipt as evidence. Councils can issue fixed penalties to householders who do not. Source: GOV.UK, household waste duty of care

Hedges, nesting birds and knotweed

It is illegal to intentionally damage or destroy a wild bird's nest while it is in use or being built, under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. The main nesting season runs from March to September, and the RSPB's advice is to cut hedges only between 1 September and the end of February, and to check for nests even then. A good gardener will tell you the same before you ask.

The 2024 hedgerow regulations, which ban cutting from 1 March to 31 August, apply to agricultural land. A hedge in a garden or marking a private garden boundary is exempt from those rules, which is a point many websites get wrong. The bird protection still applies.

Japanese knotweed is present around Southport. You do not have to remove it unless it is causing a nuisance, but you must stop it spreading off your land and you can be prosecuted for causing it to spread into the wild. Cut or dug knotweed is controlled waste: it cannot go in the green bin, and it can only leave your property with a registered carrier to a permitted site. If you sell the house, the TA6 property information form asks about it.

Sources: RSPB, nests and the law · GOV.UK, hedgerow management rules · GOV.UK, Japanese knotweed

Landscaping in Southport

Landscaping covers the building work in a garden: patios and paths, fencing and gates, turfing, raised beds, and design. Several of the businesses on this page do both maintenance and landscaping, and the Landscaping filter shows which. Sandy soil is the local fact that matters most: much of Southport, Birkdale and Ainsdale sits on dune sand, which drains fast, dries out in summer and needs more organic matter than the clay soils inland. A landscaper who has worked here will plan turf and planting around that.

When to book

Rounds fill in spring. Searches for gardeners in the UK start rising in February, peak in May and drop to about half that level by December, and Southport follows the same curve. Gardeners taking on new customers for the coming season are marked on their listing from October onwards. Winter is the time for the jobs that need bare branches and empty beds: clearances, hedge reductions, fence repairs after the autumn storms, and tree work.

Frequently asked questions