Hi! I'm new -- been a lurker for many months and love this site. I'm in a gardening pickle and in need of some advice. . .
I have lived in this place for one year in which time I planted 7 fruit or nut trees, started several large flower beds, and installed a raised vegetable garden. It was hard work, but of course, I enjoyed every minute of it, all of the blood, sweat, and tears that went into it. We though we were going to call this our forever home. Things have changed. . .we are moving in February.
I really hate to leave all my gardens behind, but realize I can not take it all with me. For sure, I want to take my plants that I transplanted from Montana and am wondering what else I should transplant. Then I also wonder how I should go about it. Ideas of putting things in large pots when they have gone dormant seem sensible, but I am really clueless. Do you think it would be worth it? Would it be worth trying to transplant small trees (5') that has been in the ground for 5-7 months? How about shrubs that are now about 1-1 1/2' tall? I'd also love to take some of my flowers.
I know I can repurchase all of these -- BUT! Dang it, they have a whole years growth on them. Not to mention all of my blood, sweat and tears.
What would you do? Thanks for you input!
what would you do?
Where are you moving to? Another Texas area or just a new neighboorhood?
Trees could be dug/balled/potted - most should survive.
DG'ers made national news with moving assistance of a whole yard of plants last year.
Only moving within the county, and maybe within a couple of miles. The next question would be when do I start this? Do I start now and put in large pots and attempt to keep watered and weathered? Or wait and do it all in the middle of moving? Now that scares me!
Any more advice welcomed. Thanks.
I am thinking since you are moving in Feb. all of your things should still be dormant. I would start potting, balling and bagging everything I want to take. If you have to move, this is the ideal time to be having it happen. You can do a few items each day and it won't seem so difficult.
Will the home you are moving to be a permanent one? If not, then I suggest very large pots for your trees and shrubs if you plan on taking them with you again. They will not grow as well as in the ground, but they will do okay. Your flowers can go in smaller pots.
Good luck to you.
Charlene
I think it would be easier on the plants if you dig them up while they are dormant. Then you can pot them and allow them to grow new roots in the pots, that way you won't be transplanting bare root plants and you will be able to take your time getting them back in the ground.
Of course it will take a lot of pots and potting soil, but I think it would be worth it.
Josephine.
Great advice. Thanks. One question -- how do you go about balling up the roots?
I have never done it, but I imagine you dig up the tree, set it on a large piece of burlap put soil around the roots and gather up the burlap around the trunk, but in my opinion by the time you do all that, you might as well pot them.
Make sure you do all this before you put the house on the market. Anything the buyer sees when he's shown the house conveys, including landscaping.....unless you specify it in the RE agreement beforehand.....
Lucky me in this case, big bubbles, we are merely leasing. I will not leave holes in the ground -- but, I may sprinkle some seed in the freshly dug-up places. Now the question is, do I want to go to this much trouble -- probbly!
getagreenthumb,
Here's a like to instructions on moving a tree from This Old House.
http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/video/0,,1631593,00.html
Your fruit and nut trees would have the best chance of survival by going this route. Since you are moving deciduous tree in a dormant state, they have a better chance of surviving. Be sure to prune the trees since you are removing many of the feeder roots. Because you aren't going to plant the root balled trees right away, the root balls would have to be protected from freezing and drying out.
A word of caution. Putting plants that are surrounded by garden soil into pots requires careful watering. Washing the garden soil off the roots and repotting with potting soil would allow you to take your time about putting everything back into the ground at you new place.
Thanks you for this information -- sounds like work! But, still, I'll try it!
It is in the 20's and 30's for a few days around here -- everything should go dormant with this cold spell, then hopefully there will be a few days of warmth that I can get busy with my garden stuff before I need to start packing household stuff.
Oh, moving is so much fun! Hopefully this will be the last move for me! 4 times in 18 months is a bit much. I'm still looking for stuff packed 18 months ago. Stuff is still in boxes -- it will be like Christmas when I find everything again. WoW!
Sending you luck and all good wishes, greta! {{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{hugs}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}
one of the things thats adds value to your home is your blood sweat and tears landscaping and as a DG member mentioned its convayed with the sale of your home. Even though the plants have been in the ground a year and have a years growth on them youll set them back by that much by moving them to your new home. Im not trying to be a plant pooper but is it really worth it to move them?? You might when writing up the sale put a note in it stating that you would be allowed back over the course of 2 yrs to take cutting and divisions of those plants that you really want. I did it with one of the homes I sold and it was great.. I had a chance to get my beds ready then go get what I wanted and could use at my new location..
hope it all works out for you. Ive moved a lot myself,13 times in 30 yrs. Im planning on staying put now!
good luck!
Bubbles, Blkraven2 et al,
Thank you for those great tips! PRICELESS!!