Category: News

Thank you to everyone who came along to volunteer in the Waterloo Seafront Gardens during March.  We had ten at our litter pick in Potter’s Barn and seven at both of our garden maintenance sessions, when we carried on edging the bottom path in Crescent, worked on the Waterloo Rose bed in Potter’s Barn and the rockery in Marine Garden.  We decided to cancel our Wednesday afternoon session due to the high winds.

Our volunteer sessions during April will take place:

Saturday 11th April – Litter Picking at 10.30am in the Children’s Play Park by the Marine Lake

Tuesday 14th April – Garden Maintenance at 10.00am meeting in Crescent Garden

Sunday 19th April – Garden Maintenance at 2.00pm meeting in Adelaide Garden and

Wednesday 22nd April – Garden Maintenance at 1.00pm meeting in Crescent Garden

All equipment, and refreshments, will be provided.

Best wishes,

Janet Markland

Friends of Waterloo Seafront Gardens

February has been another busy month in the Waterloo Seafront Gardens.

This is the best time of year for us to work on clearing reeds from the pond in Beach Lawn, and we had 11 volunteers on our Saturday and 18 at our Sunday session at the beginning of the month.  We cleared more reeds, removed lots of bricks, cut back the grass growing around the edges and tidied up the two islands.

At our Saturday litter pick the following weekend, also in Beach Lawn, there were 16 volunteers – when some of us moved all the debris from the pond up to the nearest gate to make collection easier and others litter picked or worked on clearing ivy and weeds from around the benches.

Thanks to everyone who came along to help this morning. We had a great turn out with 16 volunteers, so in addition to litter picking, we also cleared a bench area and moved the pond debris to the gate ready for collection by Green Sefton

We were joined by pupils from Newfield School at our Tuesday garden maintenance session and they did a fantastic job helping us to remove soil and overgrown grass and ivy from the paths in the corner of Crescent Garden.  We carried on with that task at our Wednesday session and have now finished work in that area, although there is still a lot of work to be done on other pathways!  Our version of the Forth bridge!!  At our Sunday session we worked on tidying up the rockery in Marine Garden.

Thanks to everyone who came along to help with yesterday’s gardening session. We have virtually finished the tidying up of the back corner in Crescent Garden. Just a bit more edging to do and the transformation will be complete!

Our volunteer sessions during March will take place on:

Tuesday 10th – Garden Maintenance meeting at 10.00am in Crescent Garden

Saturday 14th – Litter Picking meeting at 10.30am in Potter’s Barn

Sunday 15th – Garden Maintenance meeting at 2.00pm in Marine Garden

Wednesday 25th – Garden Maintenance meeting at 1.00pm in Crescent Garden

All equipment will be provided, as well as hot drinks and biscuits!

Best wishes,

Janet Markland

Friends of Waterloo Seafront Gardens

Thank you to everyone who joined us in the Gardens in January.  I think for the first time ever we had to cancel two gardening sessions in a row because of wet weather, but for our final session of the month we had lovely blue skies and 9 of us worked on edging and cutting back in Crescent Garden.  We also had 12 at our litter pick in Adelaide Garden.

As it is February, we will be having our annual pond clearing sessions in Beach Lawn over the weekend of Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th starting at 1.30pm and continuing until we get too cold!  We’ll work on removing new growth of the reeds and cutting out some of the older sections.

We have until the end of February to work on the pond, being aware that we need to consider the breeding seasons of the pond wildlife, and will be leaving any reed debris on the grass for a few days so that wildlife can migrate back to the pond if necessary.  We can also work on cutting back brambles and ivy in Beach Lawn if you don’t want to get wet!

Our regular volunteer sessions during February will take place on:

Tuesday 10th – meeting at 10.00am in the far corner of Crescent Garden

Saturday 14th – Litter picking at 10.30am in Beach Lawn

Sunday 15th – meeting at 2.00pm in Marine Garden and

Wednesday 25th – meeting at 1.00pm in the far corner of Crescent Garden

All equipment will be provided, as well as hot drinks and biscuits.

Looking forward to seeing you in the Gardens,

Best wishes,

Janet Markland

Friends of Waterloo Seafront Gardens

Happy New Year!!

Thank you to everyone who came to volunteer in the Waterloo Seafront Gardens during 2025.

December was a quieter month for us, with just one event on the 13th when we had 12 volunteers (plus 3 dogs and one cat!) at our litter pick and then in the afternoon, 8 of us planted approximately 3,000 bulbs in Potter’s Barn.

Some dates for your 2026 diary!!  Our regular sessions will take place on the following days, with the venue to be decided and published nearer the time:

2nd Tuesday of each month at 10.00am – garden maintenance;

2nd Saturday of each month at 10.30am – litter picking;

3rd Sunday of each month at 2.00pm – garden maintenance; and

4th Wednesday of each month at 1.00pm – garden maintenance.

The dates for January 2026 will be:

Saturday 10th January litter picking at 10.30am in Adelaide Garden;

Tuesday 13th January – garden maintenance at 10.00am in Crescent Garden;

Sunday 18th January – pond/garden maintenance at 2.00pm in Beach Lawn;

Wednesday 28th January – garden maintenance at 1.00pm in Crescent Garden.

All litter picking and gardening equipment will be provided, as well as hot drinks and refreshments.  We don’t often cancel, but if the weather is doubtful, please keep an eye on our Facebook page for updates!

With best wishes,

Janet Markland

Friends of Waterloo Seafront Gardens

🌷🌷🌷HELP NEEDED!!🌷🌷🌷

We are looking for volunteers to come along to Potters Barn on Saturday 13th December at 2.00pm to help us plant bulbs in the grass around the Waterloo Rose bed.  If you can spare any time to come along and help it would be much appreciated!  (please see why below!)

November has been another busy month with 8 volunteers at our litter pick in Marine Garden.  At our Tuesday morning get together 3 of us finished off weeding the crazy paving in Marine Garden, and 4 of us weeded the steps in Beach Lawn at our Sunday meeting.  At our Wednesday session 4 of us started work on clearing the ivy and overgrown paths around the seating area in the far corner of Crescent Garden.

We were also joined by a team from the DWP who gave us a day of their volunteer time last Wednesday, when they planted approximately 3,000 tulip and scilla bulbs in the 4 circular grass beds at the centre of Crescent Garden.  Ivy was also removed from the walls.  Those planting bulbs soon had a system going – some digging holes, others popping the bulbs in and covering them over and they’re all looking forward to returning to the gardens in the Spring to see how their efforts are looking.   We have quite a number of bulbs left – which is why we’re looking for help on the 13th!

We have just 3 volunteer sessions during December:

Tuesday 9th – Garden Maintenance at 10.00am meeting in the far corner of Crescent Garden

Saturday 13th – Litter Picking at 10.30am in Crescent Garden and

Saturday 13th – Bulb Planting in Potters Barn meeting at 2.00pm

All equipment, and refreshments will be provided.

With best wishes for Christmas and the New Year,

Janet Markland

Friends of Waterloo Seafront Gardens

Thank you to everyone who volunteered in the Waterloo Seafront Gardens during October.  There were eleven of us who litter picked in Potters Barn, and seven at each of our three garden maintenance sessions in Crescent and Marine Gardens.  At our Wednesday session we were also joined by a team of five from Graitec UK who gave us a volunteer afternoon and helped us to continue weeding and edging the crazy paving in Marine Garden – see the before and after photos below – one more session and we should have it finished!

We will be holding our 7th Annual General Meeting of Friends of Waterloo Seafront Gardens Charity on Thursday, 13 November 2025, commencing 7.30pm at The Victoria, 27 Bath Street, Waterloo, L22 5PS.

Our volunteer sessions during November will take place on:

Saturday 8th November – 10.30am – Litter Picking in Marine Garden

Tuesday 11th November – 10.00am – Garden Maintenance in Marine Garden

Sunday 16th November – 2.00pm – Garden Maintenance in Beach Lawn

Wednesday 26th November – 1.00pm – Garden Maintenance in Crescent Garden

All equipment will be provided, as well as hot drinks and chocolate flavoured (!) biscuits.

Best wishes,

Janet Markland

Friends of Waterloo Seafront Gardens

September has been another busy month for the Friends of Waterloo Seafront Gardens, although sadly for the first time in 10 years we had to cancel our Autumn Fete.  We’d been keeping a close eye on the weather forecast all week and decided on Friday evening that we couldn’t risk having gazebos/marquees up in the predicted gusty winds for Saturday afternoon.   I think we were all slightly relieved when heavy periods of rain and wind did arrive!!

We were joined by corporate volunteers from the Home Office and BDO (an audit and accounting firm) at 3 garden maintenance sessions, when they worked in Marine Garden on the steps and crazy paving area – they’ve done a fantastic job and some areas of the paving have seen the light of day for the first time in many years! We have included some before and after photos below.  There is still a section to be cleared, so we will tackle that at our October sessions.

At our Sunday maintenance session 8 of our regular volunteers worked in Adelaide Garden, weeding the central round bed and finishing the edging and clearing of the top path.  It’s taken us nearly a year to make our way around the whole of the pathway around Adelaide – our version of the Forth Railway Bridge!

Our volunteer sessions during October will take place on:

Saturday 11th – 10.30am Litter Picking in Potters Barn
Tuesday 14th – 10.00am working on the crazy paving in Marine Garden
Sunday 19th – 2.00pm working on the central bed in Crescent Garden and
Wednesday 22nd – 1.00pm working on the crazy paving in Marine Garden

All equipment will be provided, as well as refreshments at the end of each session.

Hoping to see you in the gardens in October.

Best wishes,

Janet Markland

Friends of Waterloo Seafront Gardens

Thank you to everyone who came along to volunteer in the Waterloo Seafront Gardens during August.  We had 14 at our three garden maintenance sessions and 19 at a very windy litter pick in the children’s play park!

A first for us this month was to be offered the chance, by the Merseyside Civic Society, to have a raised bed display at the Southport Flower Show.  We were sponsored by Magill’s Nursery and didn’t really know what to expect but were pleased with the result – and have lots of ideas now for next year!

Our big event of the year – our Autumn Fete – is due to take place on Saturday 13th September between 12.00 and 4.00pm.  We will have our own plant, book and refreshment stalls and coconut shy, as well as community stalls, children’s activities, bouncy castles and live music from the Happy Tuesdays, a local ukulele group who meet weekly at the Victoria Hotel.

If you’re able to come along and help us set up and take down, or to volunteer at one of our stalls please let us know.

Our volunteer sessions this month will take place on:

Tuesday 9th September at 10.00am in Marine Garden
Saturday 13th September – from 9.30am in Marine Garden
Sunday 21st September at 2.00pm in Adelaide Garden and
Wednesday 24th September at 1.00pm in Adelaide Garden

Looking forward to seeing you during September,

Best wishes,

Janet Markland

Friends of Waterloo Seafront Gardens

Thank you to everyone who joined us in volunteering in the Waterloo Seafront Gardens during July.

There were twelve at our Saturday session when we litter picked and weeded in Adelaide Garden.  Earlier in the year we had replanted the central round bed with some large shrubs and perennials that had been donated to the group, and they are starting to become well established now.

Our gardening sessions were busy in July, with corporate volunteers joining us from the Animal and Plant Health Agency, and Crown Commercial Services at our Tuesday and Wednesday sessions, in addition to 10 and 11 members of our own group.  We continued to work on edging the grass borders of the central area of Crescent Garden and weeding the surrounding pathways.  At our Sunday session we had 7 volunteers and continued to edge the borders of the “top” pathway in Adelaide Garden.

Our litter picking and garden maintenance sessions during August will take place on :

Saturday 9th meeting at 10.30am in the Children’s Play Park
Tuesday 12th meeting at 10.00am in Adelaide Garden
Sunday 17th meeting at 2.00pm in Adelaide Garden and
Wednesday 27th meeting at 1.00pm in Adelaide Garden.

All equipment and refreshments will be provided.  Please come along and join us – every little helps and you don’t need to be a skilled gardener!

This year FoWSG have been invited to have a raised bed display at the Southport Flower Show (14th – 17th August) which we will be setting up with plants donated by our friends at Magills Nursery.

Our Autumn Festival in Marine Garden is taking place on Saturday 13th September.  If you are able to help us in any way (setting up, taking down, raffle prizes, manning a stall etc) please let us know.

Best wishes,

Janet Markland

Friends of Waterloo Seafront Gardens