[breton]

I've done pretty well with my first real garden (thanks to advice from here a while ago) and now I want to take it with me!!
How's best to move a few shrubs and various fruit bushes? I can't take much soil and it may be a few days at least before I can re-plant.
Thanks

[devonbarmygardener]

It is doable, potentially, if you get some really big pots, plenty of compost and keep a close eye on them before they're replanted, although they may sulk a bit.
However, depends what you're specifically moving - it may not be a good time for some plants - I'd consult a good plant book first. If by moving a plant at the wrong time of year you're going to kill it, then it's better to leave it behind. 

[snowdrops]

There should be very few plants that can't be moved at this time. If you don't try you won't know,pots & compost is the way to go. 7 years ago I took a small portion of almost everything I had,potted them up, moved nearly 200 of them to a friends before 'the day' & moved them to the new house a couple of weeks later,where they stayed in pots until the autumn or the following Spring. Practically all survived.

[Yorkie]

 Whatever you do, don't let the roots dry out.  Decent watering the day before you dig them up, wrap the roots in plastic bin liners if the plants aren't going into pots, and try to ensure no air pockets left.

You'll need to make sure that the plants are really well watered for the next 12 months, including if there's a dry winter.

[Aunt Sally]

Are you selling the house ?  If so was an inventory of fixtures and fittings done ? 

[breton]

Great advice-thanks to all. In the past I've bought fruit trees with bare roots and this seems the easiest way to go. If I use bin bags as Yorkie said, which seems the least expensive and least heavy method, how do I prepare the plants - do I leave soil in the bag etc?  No legal probs 'cos I'm renting out my present house - no takers at the moment!

[Yorkie]

As I said, water them the day before and take the biggest root ball you possibly can.  That will minimise the root shock.

Prioritise making a new planting hole over practically everything else.  Dig it, add FBB or similar, then unwrap the plants and put them back in.  Make sure they're the same level in the soil as they were in the old garden.

[breton]

OK Once again thanks

[GYO Girl]

How long have you got before moving day?  If you've got a few weeks it would be much easier to take cuttings of the shrubs and take them with you - less back breaking digging and lifting, less space taken up in the removal van, and they will transplant much easier. 

Are you selling the house ?  If so was an inventory of fixtures and fittings done ? 

To my knowledge you don't have to list specific plants on the F&F form - at least we didn't when we moved three years ago, things may have changed since then.  And we also took some of our favourite plants with us, although mainly by dividing and potting up perennials, leaving a bit behind for the new owners, and taking cuttings. We only took maybe half a dozen established favourites at most that couldn't be easily propagated.

[snowdrops]

I stated that the garden would be different,that I would be taking the majority of the plants. What actually happened was I dug them up, took a small portion & replanted the rest much as GYO Girl suggests. We moved in May,so that has a bearing on what to do I feel.

[sunshineband]

Can I suggest that it helps to put the root ball of large plants (too large to pot for moving) onto a piece of material prior to using a bin bag? This saves the bin bag ripping (bound to!) and soil spilling out.

I have used sacking, old bed sheets or old lightweight curtains for this in the past.

My daughter is in the process of 'packing up' her garden, having listed the plants she is taking for her buyers. (They did have to do this GYO Girl)

One special cherry tree is going, and she has already dug around it about two feet from the trunk and back filled with loose soil, just to try to make it easier to get it out the night before they go. The tree will be planted in it's sacking cover, to keep the roots protected in the winter, while the decide where it's permanent site will be.

Hope that helps a bit, Breton 

[Kristen]

This time of year I wouldn't dig planting holes (at new house) ahead of time - risk that cold and frost gets into the ground in the planting hole and that is then cold around the re-planted plant.  The ones I prepare I fill back in, and then re-excavate when I actually plant.

[sunshineband]

This time of year I wouldn't dig planting holes (at new house) ahead of time - risk that cold and frost gets into the ground in the planting hole and that is then cold around the re-planted plant.  The ones I prepare I fill back in, and then re-excavate when I actually plant.

I agree that this would be a bit risky.

Daughter does not have access to the property ahead of moving day though.