Moving house - transplanting

jaymi.mccannCLp-gYFO · May 2023

Hello! I am moving from Coventry to Glasgow and sadly leaving our beautiful garden we have worked on for nearly a decade. Our buyers plan on ripping it out and, I believe, astroturfing it. So we have to save our plants! Is it possible to move the below plants within the next month or two and how? If we leave them they will die anyway, so it is worth a try!

Any advice?

- rhododendrons
- rose bush
- hibiscus
- lavender
- laurel
- jasmine
- camelia
- cherry blossom tree
- Hoheria sexstylosa
- ceanothus

Busy-Lizzie · May 2023

If they are going to die anyway then give it a go. Some of those plants must be pretty big so it will be hard work. Give the plant a good watering. Put some earth and compost in a big pot, depending on size of plant. Dig up your plant with as much earth on the roots as possible, put it in the pot and pack compost around it and give it another good watering. It isn't the best time of year to do it, a bit too late, but some may survive. Do it as soon as possible. I would keep them in the pots and plant into your new garden in the autumn when the weather gets colder and they are going into dormancy. By then you should know which ones have made it.

clematisdorset · May 2023

I really feel for you! Do have as many big containers lined up as possible? Scots plants usually sell big black plastic half barrels with handles. How to do it? I will leave that to the more experienced but I would hope it is worth trying. Are those plants all of the same age?:Will you be pruning them first?

clematisdorset · May 2023

@ I have just checked the website and Scotplants do 50 and 70 litre plastic tubs with handles as well as smaller sizes. They are based in Fife, they deliver throughout the UK, their website is scotplantsdirect.co.uk

rowlandscastle444 · May 2023

clematisdorset said:

@ I have just checked the website and Scotplants do 50 and 70 litre plastic tubs with handles as well as smaller sizes. They are based in Fife, they deliver throughout the UK, their website is scotplantsdirect.co.uk

That's useful to know, thank you, as we plan to move later this year. Having spent more than 21 years in this place, the prospect of just upping and leaving is a wrench.

I'd already got a couple of plants in containers, including a gooseberry bush, and had assumed the only way would be to start again, buying new plants.

I'll give it a try, if we can actually find a suitable bungalow. My wife and I have different priorities!!🙄😇

Dovefromabove · May 2023

Make sure your movers know about the plants when they’re pricing your move … they may need to use a separate vehicle.

Fairygirl · May 2023

They can go in bin bags, but just be aware that they'll need good care before and after [I'm sure you do] and that the climate here isn't the same, so they may not all do well anyway, depending on where exactly you're going. Glasgow itself is much more sheltered than where I am, for example, app. 10 miles to the south. The north side is also quite different from the city, and any altitude makes a big change.

Don't expect the Hoheria to thrive, or even survive either. Our climate is definitely changing in this part of the world, but it doesn't mean that will manage. The jasmine and hibiscus also fall into that category. Lavender is short lived, so it would be batter to take cuttings. Ceanothus are also short lived, on the whole, and it might not be worth the effort of trying to shift that either.
The rhodos and camellias are fine, but it depends on whether you can get them out successfully, and keep them happy long enough.
I wouldn't bother trying to move the cherry though, or the laurel. Laurels are so cheap and ubiquitous, and a cherry tree isn't likely to survive being moved, unless it's only been planted a very short time.

clematisdorset · May 2023

Thanks @rowlandscastle444, the tubs are sturdy and the handles really help when moving them, even if it means shifting rather than lifting at times. I am slowly decanting some of my plants from these tubs into my garden soil, as I slowly improve the soil & remove landscaping fabric. Some of my shrubs have been in them for over 5 years. I have added extra drainage holes to some tubs, eg for a Jasminum. The existing drainage holes are a decent size, on the sides of the tubs - these are the 50 litre plus size tubs that I bought from Scotplants - they sell a whole range, the smaller ones are without handles. I know professional gardeners use these larger tubs when growing and moving plants.

That would be a wrench to leave behind your well-tended plants, especially when there is an alternative. I hope it is possible for you. Bungalows used to come with decent plot sizes. I hope you find a bungalow and garden that you like and the plants can be moved with you and your wife.

NoSlugsPlease · May 2023

Apologies for hijacking this thread, but we are planning to move house next year and I have also been thinking about taking some of our plants with us. It will be a 3-4 hour journey from our current place to the new area.

Is it possible to move:
- penstemons?
- various rose bushes that were planted 2-4 years ago?

- a weigela Alexandra planted last year?

- a hypericum moserianum Little Misstery and a hebe Silver Dollat planted 2-3 years ago?

Thank you.

jaymi.mccannCLp-gYFO · May 2023

Thank you for all of your advice! We are going to be just north of Glasgow. I think we will leave the plants that just won't do well anyway, like the hibiscus and jasmine, but I really want to try and take my trees, they're so lovely! And the rhododendrons and rose. I think we need to get a few pots in! So do we think to give them the best chance (I'm aware it is the wrong time of year) we really water them and then pot them? Would you try and get them out asap or wait until the last minute so they're out of the ground for less time? Some of the Rhodes are flowering now.

raisingirl · May 2023

In both cases, make sure your buyers know that you are taking some plants with you. Ideally @NoSlugsPlease, you should move them into pots before you do any viewings, so there's no argument. Regardless that the buyers may be planning to rip them out, unless its clear on the paperwork, the plants that are in the ground are part of the sale.

Moving house - transplanting

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