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Garden design · Heswall, Wirral

Gardens that fall towards the Dee.

We design and build gardens for the slopes above the estuary: terraces behind Wirral sandstone walls, patios that catch the evening sun over Wales, lawns that drain, and planting that takes the salt wind.

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  • 4.9 from 142 Google reviews
  • BALI member
  • 5-year build guarantee
A terraced garden seen through trees: a round sunken terrace and pool below a stone wall, lawns and borders, and the sea beyond
Drawing 03 · A garden off Gayton Road, 1:100 The same garden, two summers later

Since 2009, from a yard on Brimstage Road

The view is why you bought the house. The slope came with it.

Heswall is built on the side of a sandstone hill that falls west to the Dee, and most of its back gardens fall with it. The wind comes straight up the estuary off the Irish Sea with salt in it. Higher up, on the sandstone below the Dales, the soil is thin, sandy and acid. Lower down it is boulder clay, which holds every shower for a week.

We have spent seventeen years designing gardens for exactly that: level places to sit, walls that stay up, lawns that drain, and plants that are still alive in March.

Gardens designed or built on the Wirral
640+
Metres of sandstone wall laid
3,100
Gardens on a maintenance round
58
From 142 Google reviews
4.9
A hillside town of houses and trees across a wide estuary at low tide
Low tide on the estuary. From the top of most Heswall gardens you can see Moel Famau on a clear day.

What we do

From a drawing to the last plant in the ground.

Design and build under one roof, so the person who drew the terrace is the person who checks its levels. Or a plan on its own, if you would rather build it yourself.

  • Garden design

    A measured survey, levels taken across the slope, and a scaled plan with a planting list you can build from, with us or without us.

    From £650

  • Terracing a slope

    Cut and fill to turn one steep fall into level gardens, with the walls, steps and drainage that keep it there.

    From £240 per metre

  • Sandstone walls and steps

    Retaining and boundary walls faced in Wirral red sandstone, reclaimed where we can find it, on proper footings.

    From £520 per m²

  • Patios and paths

    Indian sandstone, porcelain, reclaimed flags and granite setts, laid on a full sub-base with the fall away from the house.

    From £95 per m²

  • Lawns

    Old lawns lifted, levelled and returfed, or seeded in spring and autumn. Clay gets sand worked in first, or it stays a bog.

    From £28 per m²

  • Drainage on clay

    Land drains, gravel trenches and soakaways for the lower gardens where Wirral clay holds every shower for a week.

    From £55 per metre

  • Fencing and gates

    Closeboard on concrete posts for the wind off the Dee, or slatted cedar where you want to see through it.

    From £105 per metre

  • Maintenance contracts

    The same two people every visit, from March to November, mowing, pruning, weeding and keeping the borders as they were planned.

    From £95 a month

Terracing a slope

One slope. Three gardens.

  1. 01

    The slope as it is

    One long fall from the back door to the bottom fence, boulder clay under a thin topsoil. Rain runs off it, and what does not run off sits at the bottom for a week.

  2. 02

    Cut and fill

    The soil cut from the top of each terrace fills the bottom of it, so almost nothing leaves on a lorry. Levels are set with a laser, not by eye.

  3. 03

    Walls in Wirral sandstone

    Concrete footings below the frost line, then walls faced in local red sandstone. Over a metre, or beside a neighbour or a pavement, an engineer signs them off.

  4. 04

    Drainage behind every wall

    Clean gravel backfill and a perforated land drain at the foot of each wall, run to a soakaway, so no wall is ever holding back a winter of water.

  5. 05

    Three gardens where there was one

    A terrace by the house for the evening sun over Wales, a lawn flat enough to play on, and a border at the bottom for the view.

A cross-section of a sloping garden, from the house down to the estuary, cut into three level terraces behind sandstone walls with gravel and a land drain behind each Wales The Dee Terrace by the house A lawn you can play on A border for the view Gravel and land drain Boulder clay
Not to scale. A typical Heswall back garden, west-facing, about thirty metres long and six metres of fall.

The stone

Red sandstone from under our feet, and what goes with it.

The Wirral is built of Triassic red sandstone, and so are most of its old garden walls. We repair them in the same stone, reclaimed from local demolitions, and match new walls to the old ones. For paving, we lay what lasts in salt air.

A long warm-coloured sandstone wall beside a lawn under trees
Sandstone walls Lime mortar on old walls, so the stone can breathe; reclaimed stone where the colour has to match.
A pale porcelain path beside a lawn, with garden furniture on the patio
Porcelain Twenty millimetres, on a rigid bed with a bonding slurry. It will not grow the green film salt air puts on sandstone.
Stone steps rising beside a rough stone wall, low hedging at its foot
Steps Every step the same height, under 170 mm, with a nosing you can see in the dusk. A slope garden lives or dies by its steps.

Patio estimator

What would a patio cost us?

Wirral prices for 2026, including VAT, the dig, a full sub-base, bedding and pointing. A guide, not a quote: the free visit gives you a fixed price.

Size, in metres

24 m²

Material
The ground
How we get in
Extras

Planting for the wind

What grows when the Dee is blowing at it.

The westerlies come up the estuary with salt in them, and they scorch soft leaves by August. So we plant in lines: tough coastal plants facing the water, the tender ones in their shelter. Pick where your border is.

Fine ornamental grass bent over by the wind A sandy path through flowering heather under a blue sky
  • Hedge

    Escallonia

    The Wirral coast hedge. Glossy, pink in June, shrugs off salt.

  • Hedge

    Griselinia

    Apple green and fast. The windbreak we plant first on an open slope.

  • Edging

    Sea thrift

    Armeria, pink cushions on the sandstone, as it grows wild at Hilbre.

  • Border

    Sea holly

    Eryngium, steel blue, loves poor sandy soil and full wind.

  • Grass

    Stipa tenuissima

    Moves in every breath of wind, which on a Heswall slope is always.

  • Shrub

    Olearia

    Daisy bush from New Zealand coasts. Evergreen, grey, tough.

  • Border

    Lavender

    Fine in the sun behind the first line, needs the drainage of a raised bed on clay.

  • Shrub

    Pittosporum

    Evergreen structure, good in the lee of a hedge or a wall.

  • Shrub

    Hebe

    Compact and evergreen; the small-leaved ones take more wind.

  • Groundcover

    Heather

    Only where the soil is acid and sandy, as on the Dales above the village.

  • Tree

    Japanese maple

    Lovely, and scorched by salt in a season. Behind the house only.

  • Shrub

    Hydrangea

    Big leaves, big thirst. Shade and shelter, or it browns by August.

Our gardens

Nine gardens within fifteen minutes of the yard.

Every one of them on a slope, on clay, or in the wind. Most of them all three.

  • A terraced garden of low stone walls and planted beds under tall cypress trees 01
    Gayton, off Gayton Road A steep south-west slope turned into three terraces behind sandstone walls, with planting that takes the wind. Terracing7 weeks
  • Stone steps climbing through a garden with purple salvia and grasses 02
    Caldy, off Caldy Road Sandstone steps rebuilt in the conservation area, with the tree notice to the council sent first. Steps3 weeks
  • A sandstone patio with a dining table outside the French doors of a brick house 03
    Lower Heswall, off Village Road Indian sandstone terrace outside new French doors, falling away from the house to a channel drain. Patio8 days
  • A new pale porcelain patio and lawn behind a timber fence 04
    Irby, off Thurstaston Road A wet back lawn on clay drained to a soakaway, then porcelain and new turf. Drainage and patio2 weeks
  • A striped lawn running up to a pergola in front of mature trees 05
    Barnston, off Barnston Road Half an acre of lawn lifted, levelled and returfed, and on a fortnightly contract since. LawnContract
  • Dark stone steps rising through ferns, grasses and a small lawn 06
    Pensby, off Pensby Road A shady side path made into steps and ferns, where nothing would grow before. Steps and planting6 days
  • A porcelain terrace with a planted bed of white flowers and alliums beside a lawn 07
    West Kirby, off Banks Road A front garden two streets from the marine lake: porcelain, a bed of white flowers, and planting for salt. Front garden5 days
  • A curving dry stone terrace planted with roses and low shrubs 08
    Neston, off Parkgate Road A curving dry stone terrace planted with roses and lavender above the marsh. Walls and planting4 weeks
  • A closeboard timber fence with a trellis top and a matching gate 09
    Thingwall, off Thingwall Road Forty metres of closeboard and a matching gate, on concrete posts that the January gales did not move. Fencing3 days

Looking after it

The same two gardeners, every visit.

Most gardens we build stay on a round with us, and so do plenty we did not build. Wirral Council’s green bin is not needed: every bit of waste goes back to the yard and on to be composted.

Gloved hands pruning a juniper with hand shears Hands pressing a fresh roll of turf into place

  • Monthly

    £95 a month

    One visit a month, March to November. Lawn, edges, a weed and a tidy.

    • Two gardeners, about two hours
    • Lawn cut and edged
    • Borders weeded
    • Green waste taken away
  • Most of our gardens

    Fortnightly

    £165 a month

    The one most of our gardens are on. Kept the way it was planted.

    • Every other week, March to November
    • Everything in Monthly
    • Pruning and deadheading in season
    • Lawn fed twice a year

  • Winter care

    £280 a year

    Three visits from December to February, for the jobs that wait for the cold.

    • Hedges cut and shaped
    • Roses and shrubs pruned
    • Patio cleaned without a jet wash
    • A walk round with notes for spring

Guide prices

What things cost on the Wirral, 2026.

Including VAT. Every garden is different, so your quote is written, fixed and itemised.

  1. Garden design: survey, levels, scaled plan and planting list from £650
  2. Indian sandstone patio on a full sub-base £95–£135 per m²
  3. Porcelain patio, 20 mm, on a rigid bed £115–£165 per m²
  4. Timber sleeper retaining wall, up to 0.9 m from £240 per metre
  5. Sandstone retaining wall on footings from £520 per m² of face
  6. Steps in sandstone or porcelain from £340 a step
  7. New lawn, turf on prepared ground from £28 per m²
  8. Land drain to a soakaway from £55 per metre
  9. Closeboard fence, concrete posts, 1.8 m from £105 per metre
  10. Coastal hedge planted, escallonia or griselinia from £38 per metre
  11. Two gardeners for a day £420

How it works

From a photo of the slope to the first spring.

  1. 01

    A call and a photo

    Tell us about the garden, send a photo from the back door. We reply the same working day.

  2. 02

    A visit, free

    We walk the slope, test the soil, look at where the water goes and where the sun is at six.

  3. 03

    A plan and a fixed price

    A scaled plan for a design, or an itemised quote for a build: stone, soil, skips, labour and VAT.

  4. 04

    The build

    One team from start to finish, a skip off the road where we can, the drive swept every evening.

  5. 05

    The first year

    We come back in the spring to see what grew. Plants that fail in the first year are replaced free.

Reviews

What the neighbours say.

4.9 142 Google reviews
  • ★★★★★

    We had a slope we could only look at. Now we have a terrace we eat on every evening and a lawn the grandchildren play on, and the bottom of the garden is not a swamp any more.

    Ruth, Gayton

    Terracing · August 2026

  • ★★★★★

    The plan alone was worth it. They measured every level, told us which of our ideas would not survive the wind, and drew one that has.

    Ian and Clare, Heswall

    Garden design · May 2026

  • ★★★★★

    They knew about the five square metre rule for front gardens before I did and used resin-bound, so there was nothing to apply for.

    Gareth, West Kirby

    Front garden · March 2026

  • ★★★★★

    They sent the council the notice for our two old pines before anything started. The steps look as if they have been there a hundred years.

    Helen, Caldy

    Walls and steps · October 2025

  • ★★★★★

    Our lawn was underwater from October to April. One land drain and a soakaway later, it is a lawn. Tidy, on time, and the price was the price.

    Mo, Irby

    Drainage and patio · November 2025

  • ★★★★★

    Same two lads every fortnight for three years. The garden looks better now than the week it was finished.

    Pat, Barnston

    Maintenance contract · July 2026

Paperwork and people

The rules on the Wirral, handled before we dig.

  • BALI Member of the British Association of Landscape Industries
  • 5 years Guarantee on every wall, patio and path we build
  • 1 year Plants that fail in their first year replaced free
  • £5m Public liability insurance, certificate on request
  • RHS L3 Qualified in horticulture, not only in groundwork
  • Licensed Waste carrier, so your old patio goes somewhere legal

Front gardens

Paving over five square metres of a front garden needs planning permission unless it drains. We build it permeable, so Wirral Council has nothing to decide.

Trees

In Caldy and the Wirral’s other conservation areas, and under a Tree Preservation Order, the council wants six weeks’ notice before a tree is touched. We check the map and send it.

Walls

A retaining wall over a metre, or holding up a neighbour’s ground, is designed with a structural engineer and signed off. It is on the quote, not a surprise.

Who will be in your garden

  • Sian MercerGarden designer. Draws every plan, and still walks every slope herself.
  • Dan MercerLandscaper. Walls, terraces, patios, and anything involving a laser level.
  • Lewis BurkeGardener. Runs the maintenance rounds and knows every lawn on them.
  • Amy OwensOffice. Quotes, visits and the diary, Monday to Friday.

Questions

What people ask us on the first visit.

Anything else, ring Amy in the office on 0151 496 0472.

Do I need planning permission for a new front garden?

Not if it drains. Paving more than five square metres of a front garden needs planning permission unless the surface is permeable or the water runs to a lawn or border. We use resin-bound gravel, permeable block or a soakaway, so Wirral Council has nothing to decide.

We are in a conservation area. Can you take out a tree?

Not straight away. In Caldy and the other conservation areas on the Wirral, and for any tree with a Tree Preservation Order, the council needs six weeks’ written notice before a tree is cut or felled. We check the council’s map at the first visit and send the notice for you.

Will a retaining wall need an engineer?

Over about a metre, or holding up a neighbour’s ground, a drive or a pavement, yes. We work with a structural engineer in West Kirby who designs the footings and signs the wall off. It adds a few hundred pounds and a week, and it is the difference between a wall and a liability.

Why is our lawn always wet?

On the lower slopes of Heswall and Irby the topsoil sits on boulder clay, which water barely moves through. Spiking does not reach it. A land drain to a soakaway, sand worked into the top, and sometimes a new level, usually does.

What will grow facing the Dee?

More than people think, once there is a first line to take the wind: escallonia, griselinia, olearia and grasses at the front, then almost anything behind them. What does not work is a Japanese maple on the open slope. We plant the windbreak first.

When is the best time to start?

Hard landscaping goes ahead all year except in a hard frost. Turf and planting are best from October to April, when the ground is moist. Designs booked in the autumn are usually built by spring.

Do you take a deposit?

Twenty per cent on booking for a build, to order the stone, and nothing for a design or a maintenance contract. The rest is paid in stages you will see on the quote, never in full up front.

Do you charge to come and look?

No. Visits and quotes are free. A garden design is £650 and up, and comes off the build if we build it.

A seafront road beside salt marsh, with hills across the water

Where we work

The west side of the Wirral, from Caldy to Neston.

  • Heswall CH603 min
  • Gayton CH605 min
  • Pensby CH616 min
  • Barnston CH616 min
  • Irby CH618 min
  • Thingwall CH619 min
  • Parkgate CH6410 min
  • Neston CH6412 min
  • Caldy CH4812 min
  • West Kirby CH4814 min

Hoylake, Greasby or Willaston? Ask. For a design, we travel across the Wirral.

Directions to the yard

Free garden visit

Tell us about your garden.

We come and look for free, usually within the week. A photo from the back door helps.

Office open Monday to Friday, 8 to 5, and Saturday morning

Office hours
Monday 8am to 5pm
Tuesday 8am to 5pm
Wednesday 8am to 5pm
Thursday 8am to 5pm
Friday 8am to 5pm
Saturday 9am to 12pm
Sunday Closed
Please tell us your name.
We need a number to arrange the visit.
That email address does not look right.
A postcode, like CH60 0AB, so we can plan the round.
Is the garden on a slope?

We reply the same working day. We never pass your details on.