Man and Van Service in Herne Hill Close to You

Gardens seldom appear on a moving inventory until the week before, and then somebody counts the pots. The larger Victorian and Edwardian houses in this part of SE24, and the flats carved out of them with a share of the garden, accumulate an extraordinary amount outdoors: potted bays and olives, half-barrels of hydrangea, a cold frame, stacked terracotta, a rusting barbecue, tools, a water butt and several bags of compost that have been open since spring. All of it is heavier and more fragile than it looks.

What a planter actually weighs

Wet compost is close to a tonne a cubic metre, so a half-barrel that two people can just rock is often past what two people should lift. Pots are drained for a day or two beforehand where the weather allows, lifted from the base rather than the rim, and moved on a board or a flat trolley rather than carried across a lawn. Terracotta and glazed pots crack at the rim when a strap is tightened over them, so the strap goes round the body and a blanket goes between.

Plants that travel and plants that will not

Pot-grown shrubs and small trees move reasonably well if the timing is sensible: dormant season, watered the day before, root ball kept intact and wrapped. Anything lifted out of open ground in July will usually sulk for a year or die. The load space is the other hazard, since a closed van in summer reaches temperatures that scorch foliage within an hour, so plants travel last in, first out, or they go in a car with the windows down.

Glass, frames and the greenhouse

Greenhouse and cold frame glazing is thin, unlaminated and usually held by clips rather than putty. Panes come out one at a time with gloves on, are taped across, stacked on edge with card between each and strapped upright against a side wall, never laid flat with anything on top. Frames come apart into their extrusions, and the clips and bolts go into a bag taped to the largest section. A dismantled greenhouse takes more room in a vehicle than most people expect.

What belongs to the property rather than the household

In a sale, plants in the ground, established trees and fixed structures are generally treated as part of the property, and what is coming out is listed on the fixtures and fittings form rather than decided on the day. Trees are a separate matter again: across conservation areas, and anywhere a preservation order applies, pruning or felling requires notice or consent from the council, and that applies to a buyer and a seller equally. Digging out a specimen shrub on moving morning is the kind of decision that generates a letter.

Barbecues, fuel and the things that stay behind

A gas barbecue travels only with its cylinder removed, and the cylinder itself cannot go in the load at all; it returns to a stockist on an exchange scheme. Charcoal and ash are kept away from upholstery, mower fuel is run out beforehand, and broken pots, old compost bags and a rotten cold frame are far better dealt with as waste than carried to a new address. Where a whole house is being emptied to a completion date, our nearby specialists provides the survey and the crew that the indoor half of that job needs.

Short journeys and the work that follows

A garden's worth of pots going to a relative, or a load moved between two addresses while a patio is relaid, sits comfortably in an hourly booking, and Sydenham man and van team covers the same service in the districts to the south-east. Once the move is over, the hall and the kitchen floor carry a fortnight of garden traffic, which is what home cleaning services in Herne Hill is scheduled for, while households arriving nearby and unpacking slowly tend to start a standing visit at once, covered by trusted regular house cleaning in East Dulwich.

Getting a garden ready for the van

Pots drained and grouped by the gate, a board or two to move the heaviest on, gloves and tape for glass, tools bundled and tied, fuel and cylinders dealt with in advance, and a clear path from the garden to the road with the washing line down. Charging runs on vehicle and time, so the sorting is worth doing before the vehicle arrives. Seasonal availability, and the lead time on a weekend slot, is shown on man and van services UK.