moving home - taking garden with me!

newbie77

No one has any objection. New occupant in my current house would prefer larger lawn and low maintenance shrubs so I can take my high maintenance perennial garden with me to my future house. Given a choice I would prefer to buy whole new set of plants and not bother taking plants with me but the after the purchase i will be totally cashless for a while and i also have attachment to my current plants. 

I am thinking may be get some plastic pots or poly pots. Dig up and divide (if needed)  and put in pots and arrange for some van to take it. I am talking about atleast 200 plants.

1. Is it a crazy idea?
2. Has anyone done it before and happy or regretted?
3. Would poly pots be better than plastic pots? They are cheaper and might take less space but at the same time doesnt look like i can reuse it in future. Also I may not be able to dig up whole beds and plant out everything for couple of months so may be plastic pot can keep plants better over the winter.

Hostafan1

Welcome to the Forum
So long as you are honest with the buyer, there's no problem with removing plants. 
I moved over 150 "pots" when I moved here. Some 2litre pots, some as big as half barrels. 
Not a crazy idea at all.
No regrets here. If I'd left them behind, I'd have lost them, so nothing to lose really.
Get as much roots as you can and put them in pots big enough to house them for a while once you move as you're unlikely to have time in the new house to deal with them immediately.

Fairygirl

I've taken plants too, although not on  a huge scale.
You can also use bin bags [the very sturdy ones] if you have bigger specimens. Buying pots for those can be counter productive - dearer than a new plant! I did some like that, leaving them till near the date, no holes in them until they were in the new plot to save too much mess. It worked well. 

Theveggardener

When we move house we brought a lot of plants with us and bought strong plastic bags as we didn't want large plastic posts. We dug them up with a good amount of soil and when we got here they were put in the shade still in their bags and kept damp. When I had the time they got planted no problem. If you do use bags don't leave them in them for to long and roll the bag down so the air can get round them. Good luck with the plants and the move.

newbie77

Thanks, yes I have agreement with the buyer. They are happy for me to take all perennials and I will leave the beds with shrubs. It is so over-planted at the moment that removing perennials will give space to the shrubs to grow. 

Glad to hear that you are happy with moving plants.

Shall I dig up and use big pots (like 7 liter) or shall I divide and use smaller pots like 3 liter?

Hostafan1

I'd go with as big a clump as you can given the pots you have to hand. If you can keep the clumps big, so much the better, but if you have to split them, they should be fine. 

Theveggardener

As I said I didn't use pots but used strong plastic bags as I didn't want load of pots. It will cost you a bit to buy pots that you might not want after and could spent the money on something you can use or more plants. If you are going to hire a van to move them you wont get as many in if you use pots. Your lucky like I was that your buyer will let you take the plant's. As to the size of pot someone else might have an idea on what size would be best if you really want to use pots. I even had some plant in trays as I'd run out of bags. Just make sure you have soil around the roots.

newbie77

I am so happy that so many of you are saying it isnt a crazy idea

hogweed

Definitely not crazy but you need to plan it properly especially if you intend not to plant your plants out until the spring. I assume you will be moving in the autumn so you will be able to cut back the perennials before digging up???
I would suggest poly pots - get them in a range of sizes - as they are relatively cheap, have drainage holes and will stand up properly, therefore easier to transport and store. Rubble bags or such like will not stand four square and will tend to fall over. Allocate a fairly sheltered area of your new garden to store all the plants together. Pack them  neatly together and if the winter is going to be particularly harsh, I would suggest putting a thick fleece 'collar' round the outside to prevent frost/cold damage to the roots of the plants on the outside of your 'stack'.

AnniD

What sort of plants are you taking ? Depending on what they are depends on the treatment. 200 is a hell of a lot to shift ! Freecycle might be the way to go if you want to get a load of different size pots.
How long have you got to get it all up together? 

newbie77

I am planning to take perennial plants like hellebores, salvias, heucheras, some grasses, hardy geraniums, sedums, phlox, echinea etc. Some small shrubs like nandina lemon and lime, small azelias, some more little shrubs. These are planted in garden and need to be lifted out and carried. There would be around 200.

There will be loads still left behind for new owners to enjoy like all roses, larger shrubs, clematis etc and ground is carpet bulbed with spring bulbs. I am only lifting small/medium plants from garden. My garden is heavily overplanted and that is one of the reason I am moving house. I need bigger garden.

i dont know what do with dahlias. May be chop off hard and just take the bulbs with roots, but they are already in pots and would be in beautiful blooms in Aug when I will be moving. 

Problem is I have loads of stuff in large pots too. Many daphnes, hostas, camelias, witch hazel etc. They can go as it is but would be heavy and take loads of space in van. May be i need a truck!