digging up and transplant tips

Hi,

My good friend lives in the house we left last June. They care NOTHING about gardens or plants. The last time I was there I noted that they had weeds over 8 feet high in their front yard and that several of their shrubs were brown and of course, dead. (How on earth do you kill a baby pine tree???)

They warned me yesterday that they are about to CUT EVERYTHING TO THE GROUND and begin mowing and weed whacking instead of trying to determine what is an herb and what is a weed and managing a garden.

This includes a wonderfully seasoned raised bed that yielded me over 100 pounds of tomatoes, and a pair of side beds that were full of cutting flowers and herbs I planted from bare ground... some from seed, some from plants. It was this garden that I was tending when I first found Dave's Garden 2 years ago!


Since they know how much it meant to me and how upset I would be if they destroyed all those plants, they said to get whatever I want OUT before they commence destruction.

I THINK the following things are still there (if they have not somehow destroyed them already)
shasta daisies, one big plant and a bunch from seed
cilantro that SHOULD have seeded itself
moss curled parsley and Italian parsley
lemon grass
purple coneflower
monarda petite delight
rudbeckia with a green eye (Irish eyes?)
rudbeckia that has orange/gold petals and a black eye, no two alike
TONS of scarlet morning glories
lemon thyme
thymus vulgaris
French tarragon
Greek oregano
Common sage
Chives
Munstead Lavender
Lavender
Stevia
chocolate mint
"vicks plant"
spearmint
lemon mint
peppermint
regular normal black eyed susans
lamium that gets a pink flower
fragrant bouquet hostas
daylilies (hemeracaulis lily)
gooseneck loosestrive
digitalis (foxgloves)
euonymous
various bulbs (not sure where they are now!)
coral bells
lungwort
russian primrose (or that is what my sister's MIL calls it)
columbines (various)

Wow, I had forgotten how much work I had done in those gardens!

Here are my questions:

1. Is there any special handling that I should do when digging up these plants and transporting them to our garden? It's only about a 25 minute drive to and from.

2. Can I divide the big ones and plant them in different spots or should I see if they live first?

3. They would like the beds "put to sleep" so they don't have to mess with them anymore - if I use cheap black plastic trash bags cut open and some kind of mulch to weigh them down, would that serve to kill the remaining weeds and give them a "no brainer, no plants" area where the beds used to be?

Thanks in advance for your assistance. The big day is this coming Tuesday !!!!!

This is how the flower garden looked back on July 7, 2001.

This is the herb garden from that same day...

side path...

Hi, JanieJoy. How heartbreaking to see all that work and love go unappreciated. At least you will get the plants back and know they won't die. I have a few recommendations. Make sure the soil is moist before you start digging (I see you are in Ohio - I am near Columbus and it has been raining here so hopefully nature has watered your beds and you won't have to!). That way the roots won't tear and more soil will cling to them. I would recommend cutting large plants back before you dig - that way it will be easier to dig and the roots won't have so much plant to support as they get established. Try to get all of the roots if possible - they will transplant much better that way. I am always surprised at how big plants' roots are! You ought to be able to divide many of the plants now. You might want to put them in pots or even plastic bags to transport - the important thing is make sure the roots don't dry out. Also if you are transporting them in a truck keep the leaves covered so the wind doesn't dessicate them. I have transplanted many plants even in 90 degree weather. What I do is keep the plants in the shade until I am ready to put them in the ground and plant in the evening so they have the cool of the night to start adjusting. I also fill the hole they are going into with water before I plant them; basically I plant them in mud puddles but it seems to help them adjust. If it is very sunny and hot after you transplant and you see wilting you might try rigging up some shade for the larger plants. I would expect the foxglove to go limp and maybe lose all its leaves but give it time - it may put up new growth. If you find your bulbs and they still have foliage (like lilies) don't cut that off - they need that foliage to feed the bulb for next year's flowers.
If you put down plastic and then a mulch they could have problems later with mosquitos - after heavy rains the plastic would keep the ground from absorbing the water and mosquitos breed in standing water. Another option might be to put down thick layers of newspaper and cover that with mulch. The newspapers will smother the weeds and also allow the rain to be absorbed. Good luck!

Thanks - the newspaper was in the back of my mind but I wasn't sure if it would work - but now that you mention it, it's free, it's easier, and it would even amend the soil for the next person who comes along and cares.

My father (who really knew his stuff, I wish I'd have listened to him more when he was alive) used to plant things in a big mud puddle too and he never lost ANYTHING... I had also forgotten that!

We're transporting in cars so it will not be an issue for the wind. And yes, we're pretty moist around here. I'll be taking a hose to hose down the newspapers anyway so that can also be used to make sure everything comes out more efficiently.

Thanks for all your help, NoH2O!

i try to keep them shaded from the hot sun until after the transplant shock has worn off and they are showing new growth.
Maybe a dead branch or a newspaper-just to give a shaded area during hot sunshine hours.
I think the key to any good transplant is H2O and lost of it.
Good luck saving your babies!!!

Janie, some of the plants that you list are so tough you have to kill them with a stick! Daylilies, rudbeckia, daisy, hosta, I have transplanted all of these in full bloom with no problems! Maybe the foliage wilted for a day, but that is it!

I didn't see any listed, but if you have roses that must be moved, plead on bended knee to spare their lives until they can be moved in the fall. Otherwise, it is a LOT of work to dig them up now. It is best to remove all the foliage, prune them way back, and then dig and move them.

Have a good time, re-discovering all your friends! And can you send some of the rain down here? Please?

Lupinelover, That rain we had in our area SKIPPED OUR STREET for the second time this summer - it goes around our road but doesn't hit us so while everyone for miles around is watering we are dry and must go out and water the lawn!!!

But if we get any extra I'll definitely send it to Grove City. I gratefully do not have roses there - too scary for me... although there are roses on our new property and they baffle me. I need to sit down and really study them or have someone who knows that they are doing come and teach me what to do with them.

My roses are so pitiful! They are also beautiful but just a bloom or two on little squatty shrubs. How sad to me who loves flowers so much.

But I want to learn!

I'm glad to hear that stuff I'm moving is tough - that was exactly my intent - to have a kind of bulletproof garden. :)

Hurrah!

I'm really looking forward to Tuesday! Getting quite excited.

Today's the day...

It was VERY stormy all night and we thought we'd run into storms today too - and it's still possible... but this morning it's bright and sunny and quite beautiful out there and if I can get my DH out of bed to help me we'll be on our way.

Thanks for your help!

Janie

this may be to late but here goes
shasta daisies, -divide
cilantro that SHOULD have seeded itself--LET IT GO REPLANT
moss curled parsley and Italian parsley--LET IT GO REPLANT
lemon grass-JUST DIG IT UP
purple coneflower-- DIG IT UP
monarda petite delight-- DIG IT UP
rudbeckia with a green eye (Irish eyes?)--DIG IT UP
rudbeckia that has orange/gold petals and a black eye, no two alike--DIG IT UP
TONS of scarlet morning glories-- LET IT GO REPLANT
lemon thyme --DIG IT UP
thymus vulgaris--DIU
French tarragon--DIU
Greek oregano--DIU
Common sage --GET CUTTINGS
Chives--DIU
Munstead Lavender--DIU
Lavender--DIU
Stevia DIU
chocolate mint DIU SOME AND GET CUTTINGS(ALL MINTS)
"vicks plant" ???
spearmint
lemon mint
peppermint
regular normal black eyed susans --DIU
lamium that gets a pink flower---????
fragrant bouquet hostas--DIU
daylilies (hemeracaulis lily)--DIU
gooseneck loosestrive--?????
digitalis (foxgloves)--?????
euonymous ????
various bulbs (not sure where they are now!) WAIT TILL THEY SHOW THEN DIU
coral bells?????????
lungwort--DIU
russian primrose ?????
columbines (various)?????
THEN KEEP EVERYTHING SHADED AND PLANT AS SOON AS POSSABLE
If you have mint cuttings put them right in dirt and keep them wet from a few days to a week
hope this helps and is not to late i just saw this thread
Troy

Hi JanieJoy - How did moving day go? Were you able to dig everyting up between storms? Yesterday was 91 with a heat index of 98 and a dew point of 73 before the storms hit here near Columbus. Today was cooler and mostly overcast; I hope it was the same for you, it makes transplanting so much easier on you and the plants. Let us know how the plants do over the next few weeks.

Well - we did get rained out and had to quit but my friend's DS13 helped dig weeds with my garden worm - he loved using it!!

We got a HUGE tarragon, what was left of the lavenders that had been smothered by weeds, some cuttings of sage. There were some surprises - useless but interesting - two volunteer lettuces from summer 2001!! And a single cilantro plant that must have been from last year's mess.

The rudbeckia is still there, hidden by weeds as tall as a man. We plan to get it out tomorrow or Friday, although tomorrow it's supposed to be rainy again and DH has to go to the doc with his dad so might not be able to do it.

Let's see... brought home shasta daisies and an echinacea, but only small parts since they declared they wanted the daisies for my friend's daughter's paternal grandmother??)!!!

Still left over there are two fragrant bouquet hostas and some gooseneck loosestrive and a day lily and I'm going to hunt for the remains of the beautiful foxglove that used to be such a delight... I'm going to claim my ajuga (humble plant, I know, but it was a housewarming gift, sweet woodruff (if it is still there, I didn't see it the other day) and chocolate mint... most everything else is DEAD or gone.

I've asked them to hold off with the weed whacker till we can get the plants out of their way. We decided not to do the mulching for them - since her DH was THERE but refused to even peek his head out the door to see what we were doing - let alone raise a finger to help us clean up HIS messy yard.

All in all, though, it was a fun and productive day, we had a great time working together, DH and I enjoyed working with the fragrant herbs.

I've got everything sitting in water in the shade, sort of getting used to being out of that weed tangle. I'll be putting the stuff in the ground Friday, when I have help - unless my knee miraculously heals and allows me to walk and stand enough to dig in the ground or I find a way to dig large holes with a spade while sitting on a small stool, LOL!

Wish there were some DG'ers around my neck of the woods, I'd pay richly for some assistance from some of the knowledgable folks I've met around here.

But everyone seems to be so far away!

Ah, well - it will all get done. We're in for a coolfront, and it is supposed to stay cool through the weekend, I should have everything in the ground by Saturday and hopefully it will be happy in its new home.

I'm going to back fill the bed(s) with humus/manure and let everything rest in a kind of muddy soup at first so it all gets a good drink before I let it settle in. Since the soil was so rich at the old place and my soil is river silt and quite sandy, I thought I'd better seriously amend the bed before putting these guys in the ground.

It's a lot of work but I know it will be amazing in a year or so. Meanwhile we'll have to watch everything and make sure it's doing ok.

Thanks for your help and concern, all!

Love
Janie