Maghull sits twenty-five to thirty metres below the Ormskirk ridge, on windblown sand with the water table never far beneath it.
Maghull, Kennessee Green, The Meades, Poppyfields
Merseyside, not West Lancashire — Lydiate is Sefton too, Ormskirk is not
Shirdley Hill Sand, with glacial till and river alluvium alongside it
Helsby Formation under the centre and north, Chester Formation to the south-east
roughly 25 to 30 metres lower than Ormskirk and Aughton
16% detached, 7% terraced, 89% owner-occupied
each described with its own plot size and boundary type
designated 1991; Sefton holds the tree orders, so we check by address
south from the Ormskirk yard, grouped onto set days
Maghull is low, flat and deliberately drained. It sits on a plateau rising only slightly over the lower land to the east and west, with the River Alt forming its western boundary and the ground falling from around the town centre towards Sefton Lane. The Molyneux family promoted the Alt Drainage Act in 1779 to turn marshland into farmland, and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, completed through the town in 1774, drained it as well as carrying trade. Under the houses is the Shirdley Hill Sand Formation, a windblown fine sand, over Triassic sandstone.
Whinney Brook is the main watercourse draining Maghull, cutting through the middle of the town and running as an open ditch for much of its length; Dover’s Brook starts on the western side of the A59. The town above them is almost entirely twentieth century, built out in one long push after Northway went in during 1933 and again through the 1960s and 1970s. The oldest fabric is a small pocket: Victorian villas near the station, Edwardian ones at Parkhaven, and the high sandstone walls of Hall Lane.
Maghull is about six miles south of the yard on Green Lane, down the A59 and over the county line into Sefton, so we group jobs here onto the same days rather than crossing for one. If a neighbour of yours is already booked in, adding you to that run is usually the quickest way to a date. We work across Aughton, Lydiate and Ormskirk too — send a postcode and we will tell you either way.
November to March
Free-draining sand sounds like the end of the problem, and here it is half of it. Sefton's flood assessment records a water table that rises in wet conditions until the local watercourses cannot discharge, and the Fouracres case study lists rainwater pooling at the low point of gardens among the contributing causes.
The first dry fortnight
The Shirdley Hill Sand is a fine, well-sorted windblown sand, low in organic matter and holding very little water once the table drops. In our experience turf laid on it needs watering harder and for longer than the same turf on heavier ground, and a lawn that looked well in May can thin out quickly.
Two streets apart
Three different deposits are mapped inside the built-up town: windblown sand across most of it, Devensian till adjoining the sand near the centre, and floodplain alluvium out at the western edge near Sefton Lane. Till and alluvium hold water where the sand sheds it, and they want the opposite treatment.
The new estates
Poppyfields is built on the former Ashworth Hospital South site, Old Hall Park on the old high school site, and Eastbrook Village on what was arable land beside Whinney Brook. Garden ground on all three is imported topsoil over subsoil that has had plant driven across it, so it behaves like made ground rather than what the map says.
Moorhey and The Lakes
The Neighbourhood Plan records Moorhey's front gardens as particularly small and now being given over to hard landscaping for parking, with on-street parking pressure in Clent Farm and The Lakes as well. What is left is a narrow strip that still needs edging, weeding and planting that suits it.
The Round Meade
This is the one estate where boundaries are soft, relying on hedges and shrubs rather than fences and walls, with significant planting of deciduous native varieties through it. Upkeep there is a hedge round rather than a lawn round, and it runs on a different timetable to the rest of the town.
The town's edge
Around Maghull the fields sit lower than the roads, with drainage ditches feeding the local watercourses, and Whinney Brook is an open ditch for much of its length. Gardens backing onto that network have a permanently damp bottom end and a boundary that is someone's watercourse.
Damfield Lane
In Sefton the protected trees are those under a Tree Preservation Order and those growing in a conservation area, where work needs six weeks' notice to the council. Maghull's conservation area is at Damfield Lane and orders exist nearby, so we check the address with Sefton before we quote for anything involving a tree.
Services
Cut and edged on a regular round, with the arisings taken away and the garden left tidy.
Lawn Mowing & Edging in Maghull →A scheduled round at an agreed interval, priced by the visit rather than by the job, and running right through the year.
Regular Garden Maintenance in Maghull →Old turf lifted, ground levelled and prepared, and new turf laid and firmed.
Turf Laying in Maghull →Overgrown ground cut back in sections, cleared down to workable soil, and the arisings loaded and taken away.
Garden Clearance in Maghull →Sides and top cut back to an even line, a reduction where the species takes it, and every clipping raked off and taken away.
Hedge Trimming in Maghull →A season of feed and selective weed control, applied by knapsack at the points in the year when the grass can take it up.
Lawn Treatment in Maghull →Moss treated and raked out, and the shade or drainage behind it identified.
Lawn Moss Control in Maghull →Height and spread brought back on leylandii and conifer screens, cut inside the live green that will grow over the face.
Leylandii & Conifer Trimming in Maghull →Trees chosen for the ground and the position, planted while dormant, staked where the stock needs it and watered through the first summers.
Tree Planting in Maghull →A new hedge set out, planted and mulched, with the species chosen against the ground it has to live in.
Hedge Planting in Maghull →A hedge taken out for good: cut down in sections to ground level, the stools and roots grubbed out by hand where the line is wanted clear, and everything taken away.
Hedge Removal in Maghull →Thatch and dead moss raked out mechanically so air and water reach the roots.
Lawn Scarification in Maghull →Green waste, prunings, clippings and the soil a turf lift leaves behind, loaded by hand and taken away so the garden is left clear.
Garden Waste Removal in Maghull →Compacted ground hollow-tined or spiked so that water, air and roots get down into it rather than stopping at the surface.
Lawn Aeration in Maghull →Shrubs and roses pruned in their own season, for shape and for flowering.
Shrub & Rose Pruning in Maghull →Apples and pears pruned in winter, stone fruit in summer, worked for the crop and from the ground.
Fruit Tree Pruning in Maghull →Bare and patchy areas prepared, overseeded and topdressed to knit back in.
Lawn Repair & Overseeding in Maghull →Borders weeded by hand and hoe, perennial roots lifted whole, edges re-cut, and the cleared ground mulched or planted the same visit.
Weeding & Border Care in Maghull →Ivy severed at the base, left to die back, then lifted off the wall, fence or tree by hand and cleared away.
Ivy Removal in Maghull →Leaves cleared off the lawn first, then borders, paths and hard surfaces, and taken away, across as many visits as the season needs.
Leaf Clearance in Maghull →A one-off spring or autumn cut-back, weed and clear, priced as a single job.
Seasonal Garden Tidy-Up in Maghull →Dan came and did a day clear up on our garden, he then scarified, fed and seeded our lawn. We then booked him to come back, put down sacking, edging and stones. Dan works hard from start to finish and leaves your garden clean and tidy, taking away debris. My daughter is getting married on Monday so we are having a garden party, we are now party ready! Thank you 😊
Dan was very reliable , efficient and got the job done to a high standard. We are very pleased with our garden.
Highly recommend, pays great attention to detail, with excellent knowledge and skill. Very reliable and will give you a bespoke service tailored to your needs.
Dan was fantastic! My garden was in a bad way and now it looks incredible! Can’t believe how quick he was and what a fab job he’s done, also very reasonable price considering what he was faced with. Would 10/10 recommend.
Booked in with Hardman Horticulture to get on top of a garden that had been somewhat neglected for many months - Dan was able to communicate effectively around availability, provided a fair quote for the work, and turned up when they said they would. Very pleased with the results of the initial visit and have communicated intention to re-book for further garden work. Highly recommend!
Very good at maintaining my gardens and reliable
Send over roughly what needs doing and we will tell you what it takes and when we can get to it.
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