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Transplanting a whole garden...

Gaughan.davidGaughan.david Posts: 80
in Problem solving
Hi everyone,

Having started my garden design journey a year ago as a complete novice, I now have a garden which is FULL of plants, but the layout of which I'm just not very happy with.

I find the artistic visionary part of garden design extremely difficult. If anyone wants to lend a hand, please send me a message! Regardless, it's becoming increasingly likely that I'll be launching a full re-design come Autumn. 

So I'm left with a garden with something in the region of 200 plants- 95% perennials and grasses. There will (I hope!) be a period where I have to take everything out of the ground, re-landscape, and put everything back.

In theory, if I was to put everything in pots for a couple of weeks while I sort out my landscaping, would that be OK? Is there a particular period where this would be particularly OK?
Thanks!

 
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Posts

  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    edited July 2020
    Most perennials are best moved in spring or autumn when they're not in full growth. Grasses I don't know about because I grow hardly any of them. Depending on your new plan, it might be possible to prepare a new bed/border and move some things directly into it, to save on the amount of pots and compost needed (and space to stand them all).
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • TopbirdTopbird Posts: 8,355
    Before you rush to dig up all your plants I would take a step back and try to analyse why you're not happy with how it looks and works. For me, it looks as though you could do with a little height in the centre of the garden (maybe a small crab apple in the centre of the lawn). Have you planted in groups of 3 and 5? Larger patches of the same plant are always more restful than dotty planting and allow the eye to move slowly round the garden rather than jumping here, there and everywhere.

    If you feel totally bamboozled by the designing element (visualisation is quite difficult) it may be worth investing in the services of a proper garden designer. For a relatively modest fee somebody would probably come out and help you to identify how you can make it all work better. Unless you opt for a Chelsea designer you'll probably find it's money well spent. Designers' prices start to escalate when you add on soil analysis, a full garden survey, producing detailed planting plans and, finally if the designer starts getting involved with the actual landscaping and planting.

    However, an hour or two just walking round the garden, discussing likes and dislikes, use of the garden and drawing up some very rough planning and planting sketches will probably cost less than £200 and will give you the pointers you need.


    Heaven is ... sitting in the garden with a G&T and a cat while watching the sun go down
  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    I would definitely plan, plan and then triple plan so that it's a one off event .
    My inclination would be to lift them all late Summer (around the end of August),  so that you can get them back into the prepared ground in the Autumn and they can get reasonably established before the onset of Winter. 
    I wish you luck, it looks like quite a job  :)
  • mandyroberts99mandyroberts99 Posts: 235
    If it were me, I would research all the plants you have and list in groups of the best time to move. Draw the plan for the garden as you want it, and then work out which is the best area to start on and as @JennyJ suggests, minimise the amount you need to put in pots and then replant. You have quite alot of pots now and its hard to see from your photo how much flower bed you actually have to reorganise? I'm in the same position but fortunately decided to tackle 1 bed per year which makes my reshuffling much easier where I need to. I am hopeless at the visionary artistic side too. I'm interested in the advice you are given.
  • Gaughan.davidGaughan.david Posts: 80
    Topbird said:
    Before you rush to dig up all your plants I would take a step back and try to analyse why you're not happy with how it looks and works. For me, it looks as though you could do with a little height in the centre of the garden (maybe a small crab apple in the centre of the lawn). Have you planted in groups of 3 and 5? Larger patches of the same plant are always more restful than dotty planting and allow the eye to move slowly round the garden rather than jumping here, there and everywhere.

    If you feel totally bamboozled by the designing element (visualisation is quite difficult) it may be worth investing in the services of a proper garden designer. For a relatively modest fee somebody would probably come out and help you to identify how you can make it all work better. Unless you opt for a Chelsea designer you'll probably find it's money well spent. Designers' prices start to escalate when you add on soil analysis, a full garden survey, producing detailed planting plans and, finally if the designer starts getting involved with the actual landscaping and planting.

    However, an hour or two just walking round the garden, discussing likes and dislikes, use of the garden and drawing up some very rough planning and planting sketches will probably cost less than £200 and will give you the pointers you need.


    Great advice, and something I wish I'd been told BEFORE I'd had my first pass.. Although it's been quite the experience! I started with a weed-filled and undulating lawn with no plants whatsoever, and my design evolved with my understanding of gardens. Now I'm left with something that feels messy and awkward. 

    My tastes in garden have also changed- I've fallen madly in love with a garden called Cambo, up here in Scotland, and I'd love to recreate some of the elements (I'll post some photos for you!). I think the grass needs to go, to a large extent, whereas before my design was based around the lawn. 

    Also appreciate what you said about planting- I'm definitely a collector of things, and that spilled out into my plant purchases.

    It's going to be a slog, but I'll get there!




    And my garden!




  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,698
    Fill the beds with lots of repeated plants in decent sized groups. Some things are fine dotted in singly but repeat them through the beds; just be bold. You can lift your plants and put them in plastic boxes, cram them in so the roots are packed in and keep each other moist. Or shove them up against each other in a shady corner. Autumn's best for this so you have all the top growth to grab them by, and it makes setting them out easier.
    "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour". 
  • edhelkaedhelka Posts: 2,351
    My favourite time for redesign and mass moving is winter (late autumn to early spring). It allows moving deciduous shrubs, roses and other plants that are dormant at that time. Perennials can be moved anytime and will be fine in pots for some time. The only problem would be if your soil freezes during winter.
    I remember your previous posts and love what you've done so far. I am sure it will get even better. Gardening is a process and changing and moving thing is a part of it. It's good to get the hard landscaping right early in this process but the rest is relatively easy and can develop with your taste and wishes.
  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    I'd measure it all , draw it to scale,  and work on the design. You can lay grease-proof paper over the scale drawing , draw on that , and throw it away until you're happy. 

    I'd save moving any plants until you're ready to replant them . Hundreds of pots will need watering, moving and standing back upright when they blow over. 

    You may decide to lose some of the existing grass to create new beds. If that's the case, create the beds, improve the soil and move the plants from their existing locations straight into the new beds. 

    Once you have  a design to work too , it's much easier. 

    Lifting all the plants beforehand is , I fear, just going to give you a whole load of extra work and frustration.
    Devon.
  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,698
    You would have to move them in order to complete the landscaping. But they should only be out of the ground for about a week max, assuming typical moist mild autumn weather.
    "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour". 
  • februarysgirlfebruarysgirl Posts: 835
    I'm in a not too dissimilar position. I redesigned my garden last year and put the plants in around November but a few months ago, I realised the planting was wrong. One of the biggest errors on my part was not thinking about the style and feel of the garden before getting all gung ho about it. I finished off the final element last week and there's a plethora of things wrong with it. Whilst autumn is an ideal time to do it for the plants, I would think twice about undertaking a big task at that time of year again. It's not the easiest time as far as motivation goes. It's getting colder, wetter and the days are getting shorter. You're constantly aware that you're fighting against time to get the job finished, especially when there's a spell of bad weather right when you need to get things done.

    I'm going to be lifting everything, except the trees, and rearranging the lot but I shall be leaving it until the spring. There's too much of a temptation to rush things at the tail end of the year whereas when it gets to spring, you start to see life returning, motivation peaks, you're raring to go and time is on your side. The weather's also still cool enough and wet enough to not cause too much trauma to the plants. Alas this now means I have an 8 month wait until I can fix things 😭😆 

    However, all of that only applies if you're the type of person who's not endowed with a great deal of motivation in the first place! It's vital to be 1000% sure of what you want your garden to be like otherwise you'll be facing the prospect of doing it all over again or living with a garden you're not altogether happy with.
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