how far are you moving?

when might it happen? can you start cuttings before the move?

start making a list in preferential order .... some of that stuff ... though precious to you .. i wouldn't waste roundup on ... lol ...

you will go insane... if you try to take everything.... so prioritize .... and then.. start at the beginning... and proceed until you run out of time .....

one option .. is to mail some of the stock to the family [or drive them there is close] .. and teach the family how to pot them up for you .... and how to care for them ... there is a guy on the hosta forum.. who mailed himself over 100 boxes of garden .. twice in his lifetime ....

i moved a garden of 1500 pots 70 miles SW in 2000 .... i will not do it again .... i needed .. lots of recycle pots from local nurseries... tons of promix .... and a lot of spare time .... and numerous friends with pickup trucks and trailers ....

there is no time to amend soil prior to moving .... you are going to have to become a pot pro .... and you can worry about soil later ....

if it is that important.. JUST DO IT ....

ken

PS: don't forget... you have to restore the old yard into some semblance of order... before you move .... and if you can not finish .. before the house is listed... you will need exclusionary language in the sales contract.. giving you the right to continue to dig out the garden.. while the sale is pending .... i actually finished digging.. about 2 weeks before the buyer came along ....

PPS: forget about the burning bush .. its an invasive in many places in the US ....

It's hard to contemplate moving away from a garden you have placed a lot of time and effort into. Moving itself and all that entails is stressful enough without having to consider moving a garden as well.

There are a few things to consider before you get too carried away figuring what you can take and what must be left behind. Do you have a new home picked out? It's premature to think about moving anything until there is a place for it. Will your new home be in a similar climate zone? Will the plants you value now be suited for the new location? When is the move contemplated? Late winter/early spring before many plants emerge from dormancy is a great time to dig and pot up smaller items that can be moved easily. I know it seems like a huge waste (but maybe not to the new residents of your old home), but you may be better off just leaving larger plants - trees and shrubs - in place. An alternative is to strike cuttings of the shrubs/trees you value highly and grow them on. There are many sources on the Internet that will explain exactly how to do this for best results, based on specific plant type.

There is a lengthy thread on the Perennials forum that discusses this subject and what the OP discovered about the process that may be helpful to you.

Here is a link that might be useful: moving a garden

I know exactly how you feel. I also had to move within the last year. And was concerned about the loss of plants. Having learned last February, about an inevitable move, I almost immediately started to work on transplanting into containers first. My camelias transpanted relative easily and painlessly. My Chinese holly I left (don't believe they take too well to moving and its spine were worse than any cactus could be). Now, Michelias (related to magnolia) might be more sensitive to a move. I know that magnolias are not great about transplanting, but I think transplant one of my small grandifloras without any problem. I don't think you will have much of a problem transplanting gardenias, osmanthus, or podocarpus. I did the majority of my transplanting into containers (March and April)--typically very misty and rainy here (and not too hot or too cold). In addition to the camelias and magnolia, I transplanted, hostas, yuccas, Acuba japonica, Euonymous japonica, bamboo, azalea, crape cyrtles (Hopi), hardy ferns, iris, and many others. (Keep your newly transplanted garden shaded and protected from wind if possible.) My plants had a few months to acclimate to their containers before I started loading them into they U-Haul Truck. Over the course of the previous summer and fall, I grandually moved all my transplanted (containerized)plants into their permanent locations in the ground. Yes, it was some work (but a pleasure compared to the furniture). And it certainly did help somewhat to have the familiar plants used in the new landscape of a new home. I could not take a beautiful large photinia bush/tree (will reestablish quickly anyway). My heaviest loss, not being able to take a big, beautiful, Southern Magnolia in the front yard. My heart sank when I drove by the old house and saw the new owners cut it down. P.S. I have since planted a row of grandifloras on the western flank of the new property and am busy acquiring as many cultivars of grandiflora as I can. Life goes on I guess. Good luck with the new home and new gardening possibilities.

Take the "very very rare" ones with you and leave the rest. Amending of individual planting holes doesn't help the plants so don't get caught up in that. There might be a point to tilling in compost throughout the garden if the new place looks like it has lousy soil, otherwise it would be more direct to plant in mounds and beds of purchased soil placed on top, without blending it with the existing soil.

If you won't have time or money for large-scale site modification just plant in the soil that is already there. The main benefit of forking or tilling the ground before planting is the aeration of the soil that results.

Thank you for the advice.
We are planning on building a house a mile from my mother's, on her land. This is in the same zone, the same area, the same soil. The soil is horrendous. Red clay. I will have access to lots of chicken poop and the dump trailer to move it and tractors to till it in. I may also be able to use the dump trailer to get loads of compost from our local compost site. Since it is family land already, I should be able to do lots of prep work before the move-in date. I wouldn't be able to transplant plants, though, until after construction was finished.
I would be able to start cuttings, but I'm sure that you all know how long it takes to grow some of these plants from cuttings. Some grow fast from cuttings, like the michellias, and I am going to strike lots of cuttings of those this summer. I'll probably do lots and lots of cuttings this summer and try to get a start of each of my roses.
Bboy, Why do you think I should leave everything except for the plants that are rare? What if I could rent a tree spade and dig them up and transplant them all in the same day? (Multiple days, of course, but no roots would be exposed over night).

I just moved in July and August. I was only moving 20 miles though..and I took nearly evrything that I could dig up by hand with me(that which I could not keep..I gave away to friends and relatives). The neighborhood was going downhill and I just knew that anything I left would be neglected.

I know how you feel. I hope things work out so that you can at least have some of your favorites with you in your new place.

This is why you should only grow hostas. They will grow in a plastic bag sitting anywhere after being dug up and wait for you all summer.
:)

Westy

FYI, YOU will probably have to move any and all plants, even if you will have YOUR furniture moved by a professional company. They usually will NOT move live plants. It does sound as though you will be doing your own moving, but don't try to get a moving company to take even a few last-minute plants - they MIGHT since it seems this is a move within a state, but I doubt it. Renting a large truck might be the best way for you to make the move in the fewest necessary trips, especially considering the price of fuel now!

I would take cuttings of whatever you can, even if they grow slowly, and especially of the things you value, for rarity, looks, etc..

If you can, dig up the most recently planted stuff that you REALLY want to take with you, pot them up into pots at least one size larger than the pot they came out of - to accomodate new root growth - you may have to do a little root and top pruning, which I don't like to suggest, but..., needs must. Keep them in a slightly shady area, dappled shade or early morning sun, and water, probably daily, but it's easier than digging hundreds of plants all at once.

You may be able to beg or buy large pots from a local nursery. If not there, try a local landscaper.

Since you will be building, DO NOT even try to put beds near the house - the construction crew(s) will trample them, drive over them, etc., etc.. Save the wear and tear on your nerves and voice, and your relationship with the crew(s), and plant in "nursery beds" well away from the construction. You can plant things (too) thickly there, and thin out and move closer to the house as construction is nearly done - by which I mean painted, gutters up, AC/heat pump, pathways in, etc.. This does mean that things will be multiply transplanted, but most of them will make it, and having them in the ground will be easier than having them in pots. You CAN build paths and put in other hardscape - fencing, arbors, pergolas, etc., as the house is being built, but plants just aren't "seen" and get walked on. Oh yeah, invest in 8-10 bales of straw, and lay in down heavily around the site, it will avoid a world of mud and mess being tracked into the house. You can rake up the residue and compost it when they are done and you are ready for making beds and planting.

Save some of the chicken manure (or use a new supply if you have access) for putting on the beds closer in as the construction winds down. If the chicken manure isn't well aged (at a minimum, 6 months) then you can make a pile of it and borrow a tractor to turn it several times while the construction is ongoing - it's amazing how fast a pile will shrink as it breaks down, so make a bigger pile, or more piles, than you think you will need. If it is gong to be at least 4 months before you will be planting in a bed, then you can just mix it in and let it age on the spot.

Another suggestion, from experience, is to run water lines out to the garden area as the house is plumbed/wired, as well as electrical lines for lights, fountains, etc. It's a LOT easier to run lines from the beginning than to run them later. I put hydrants on all 4 sides of my house, and 2 further out, and am glad I did, as it's much easier to run soaker hose systems from each spot, or to hook up a hose with a sprayer for new plantings that need more water. With a good well, and using y-connectors, I can water several areas of the garden at one time.

You don't say WHEN you are moving. This piece of info can make a world of difference. I went through this five years ago. We built a home, but did not put our old one on the market until we were getting close to moving day. This gave me the better part of a year to prepare.

If you have that much time, you can get started now and work at it a little at a time. As you probably know, right now is prime time to strike cuttings of evergreens. Depending on the kinds you have, you can have many of them ready to go into the ground in two to three years tops. Asssuming it takes a year to be ready to move in to your home, several months to get unpacked and settled inside, and then several more months to do good soil prep, this will work out fine. This is a great time to take hydrangea cuttings too.

This fall, divide perennials. Put a division in a pot, and the rest back into the ground. This fall, dig bulbs. Pot some, leave some. This winter, strike cuttings of deciduous shrubs. (You see what I mean about how much time do you have?) And, as far as the rare things go, pot them all up and replace them with divisions of other more common plants you may have plenty of. The new owners won't miss what they never saw. (Again, this assumes that you're not yet ready to put the house on the market.)

Ideally, you should be working on a master landscape plan for your new home now. That way, you'll have a pretty good idea of what you're going to need in the way of "bones". Make those a high priority for cuttings, etc., since you are going to be on a tight budget. And, a master plan will also help you to know what to leave. No room for an orchard? Okay, leave the fruit trees and don't cry about them.

IF you have plenty of time, and IF you are disciplined enough to pot up and care for this plant material, it's very doable. I moved trees (small ones that hadn't been in the ground long, like yours), shrub cuttings, perennials and bulbs five years ago. I lost less than five percent. I thought that was pretty good and it sure did save a lot of money. (Believe me, a new house is a total money pit for the first year, any way you look at it.)

I had no problem finding free pots from friends, family, and garden centers. I potted up alot of my plants in compost from my own pile. If you need to use potting mix, check around for places that the landscapers buy from. You can save a TON of money compared to buying bags.

I set up an area in my yard as a "pot ghetto", with a sprinkler on a timer in its midst. That simplified watering chores as I was preparing for the move. I set up a new ghetto at the new house the week before the move, and on moving day, those pots were taken directly to that area where they stayed until I was ready to plant them. Some were in pots for over a year. I made it a priority to get any cold sensitive plants in the ground before the first winter, but in our climate, that's not that big of a deal.

It's hard to leave an old garden, but there's alot to be said for starting fresh in a new place. You've learned alot of lessons from the experience at your old one, and here's a chance for better designs and hopefully, space to try even more new plants as you go along. Think it through carefully. You can do it.

Three mature gold dust acubas (10 feet tall) are located in a protected SW corner of my house in Tennessee. I would like to move them. I have been told they must have a micro-climate. Do you think they would adjust to a move? I have a new prospective place for them that is against a west-facing wall. During the summer deciduous trees make that area heavy shade.

What do you think about the liklihood of a move being worth the effort?

I am sorry I posted to the wrong place. I'm new.