I once moved roses and other plants 840 miles from CA to WA. I had to dig them up in the middle of summer, which is a very bad thing to do in CA due to the heat and dryness, but it had to be done. I dug them ahead of time, and potted them up, and then sat them in a cool shady spot until moving day came. I wanted to see which ones were going to die immediately and toss them before packing up. Then the potted survivors went into the car for the overnight drive, and were put in a cool shady spot on arrival - plenty of those in WA even in summer. They were planted the next winter. If you're not driving and everything has to go in boxes, you can box potted roses too, but you'll have to trim them down severely. Root ball too. Nurseries shake off excess dirt from the root ball and then pack the root ball in a plastic bag, not a pot, to save weight. Then put the whole thing in a box and wedge it tightly with packing material so even if it gets turned upside down, it doesn't move and crush itself. Water well before packing, wait til the last minute, and unpack immediately on arrival. I found that the biggest problem I had moving roses long distance, was the difference in soil types between the old garden and the new one. Not one of those roses lived more than a few years, they all developed root rot because their roots were still encased in heavy adobe clay from the old garden, and now surrounded by a loose gravelly loam in the new garden with WA's famous heavy winter rains. The clay rootball was waterlogged all winter long. Growing in clay wasn't a problem when all the soil was clay, and heavy winter rains aren't a problem when all the soil is the same type, but combining the heavy rain with a ball of clay sitting in gravel was a disaster. It would have been better to bare root them completely that first winter, wash all the clay off even at the loss of most of the roots.

We moved in June. We were moving into an apt. because our house wasn't ready, so we couldn't take too much. The cost wasn't a factor for us since it was a job-related move. We knew we had a lot of stuff that needed to go even if we didn't have to pay to move it. We just didn't want to have to deal with it again. We didn't even attempt a yard sale. I did put a few things in boxes to try to sell on Ebay. Guess what? I haven't gotten around to that yet. I only have about five small boxes, though, & hope to do that around the first of the year. We filled a dumpster with junk & donated a a lot to charity. They sent a large panel truck to pick it up & it basically filled it. My tastes have been changing over the past few years to a cleaner, less cluttered look. I love the cottage look & wanted to have something similar in my new home, but not quite so fussy. I was able to get rid of a lot of things just because I knew they wouldn't work with what I wanted. Julie mentioned decorative items & knick-knacks. That was a difficult one for me. Although I knew I wanted a less cluttered look, I still had a hard time letting go of a lot of decorative things. We'll go through the boxes again when we move & will probably gid rid of more stuff. Some major things we were able to get rid of: Tupperware: I had too much & it was all odd sizes & shapes that didn't stack. Plus part of it was missing lids. We kept only a fraction of it that we actually use. Pots & pans: We had bought a new set about a year before the move, but still had some odd pieces that we didn't use. Small appliance: We had some things like a sandwich maker & baked potato maker. They were gifts, but we never used them. The George Foreman does double duty making grilled sandwiches & the microwave works for baked potatoes. Out they went. Clothes: We kept a few too-small pieces. I kept more than DH, as I have some classic things that I love that I've outgrown in the past couple of years. Anything that looked really dated or frumpy went even if it fit. We also got rid of our worst "around the house" clothes. How many stained t-shirts do you really need for cleaning? Books & magazines: We got rid of a lot. We only kept reference type books & a few hardbacks by DH's favorite authors. We got rid of almost all magazines. I kept a few for reference for the house. We don't really buy DVD's except exercise & a couple of movies, so those stayed. If we'd had a big collection it would've been thinned. CD's & DVD's: We use iTunes & have the device hooked up so we can play our music wirelessly thorough the stereo. We ripped all CD's to digital format & stored the originals in one box. An even better thing is that now I don't have to arrange storage for those CD's in the new house. I think this is one of the best clutter-busters I've even seen, even better than one of the large CD changers. CD's take up so much space in most people's living rooms. We only have a few DVD's because we don't really buy them (usually rent movies), so all stayed. If we'd had a large collection we would have thinned it. Linens: We tossed anything really ratty. Paperwork: This has always been a problem area for me. We purged a lot of old paperwork that we didn't need. A shredder was an excellent investment. Electronics & computer stuff: DH is a programmer. We had all sort of software, as well as various cables from purchases like DVD players. He kept only what we'd need to hook everything up in the apt. & then in the new house. Hobby/craft supplies: I like to work with silk flowers, making wreaths & arrangements. I had accumulated way too many flowers, in large part because of not saying "no" to donations from my sister. I purged a lot of that. I also purged quite a bit of old fabric that I'd been keeping to practice sewing. A lot of this again was due to donations from my sister. When she cleaned out her stash, she offer me what she didn't want. I won't fall into that again unless it's something exceptional. Tools: We kept the majority of them. We kept the majority of our furniture, but only until we move into the house. We were planning to buy new family room furniture before we moved, so we moved what we had & will buy once we're in the house. Good luck!

Do not have very many $5 plants. I have a friend that has a host business here that has been a wonderful enabler. She was on the national tour last summer. Moving about 550 miles south in Arkansas. Anyone on here live in Ar? My beds have gotten crowded anyway. So right now I'm splitting and planting half in my rows to take. Will probably list the house early next spring. I was thinking I could water my plants and put them in bags to save room then pot them in the new location for part of the summer. Will have quite a bit of time to plant them. I don't have near as many to move as you did and am not moving any duplicates. Getting older and need to downsize anyway. I'd say 200 to 250 hostas then all my other junk. I retired in December so have been doing painting , staining and downsizing domestic collections getting the house ready. Husband is a realtor and says we need to really down size the flowers before listing. Not sure I agree.

The storage aspect complicates your move, for sure, but I would bid it out with movers too. We recently moved my son for grad school and I assumed we would use a pod at first. First issue was not being able to park them at the apartment building (city block, not a complex) for unloading. We were also getting estimates that were right on the border of needing one or two pods. We also priced both uhaul's version of pods and renting a truck and driving ourselves. We also talked to movers who turned out to be brokers -- highest risk and least certainty in all areas, Wound up using a local moving company. I packed everything, they loaded and took to a warehouse and then reloaded when it was scheduled -- that because it was a small load and had to be matched up with other small loads going in the same direction. And your flexibility in timing can help you get a better price (also planning ahead 30 days or more, if you can). It really turned out so well and the cost was very reasonable -- and so much easier on us. It takes time, but it was worth it. We got pros to load and unload plus more than enough insurance for just slightly more than driving a truck ourselves, and it was far easier.