How to Move Plants to Your New Home

by / Thursday, 15 August 2024 / Published in Moving Tips
moving plants

Did you know you can take your garden with you when you move?

Whether you’re moving cross-country or across your state, moving can be a challenging process.

This is especially the case if you have to move on a tight timeline, or if you have to move your belongings in several shipments. Green thumbs may also be loathe to part with the plants they love!

Moving plants to a new home is possible, however, with careful planning. In this post, we discuss how you can safely transport your green guys to their next destination.

Read on for insight!

1. Save the Plants for Last

When moving, transport all of your other belongings to your new home first. Even heavy furniture should be moved before your garden.

This will ensure that your plants are away from fresh soil for the shortest amount of time possible. Letting uprooted plants sit in a new space for a few days, even if they are freshly watered, can be traumatic.

It’s important to make your plants as comfortable as possible as soon as possible with their new home. Save their move for last to minimize replanting trauma.

If the majority of your plants are outside, this can also enable you to focus on the inside of your home first. After all, this may be the most important part (especially if you are working with a deadline).

2. Check to See if You Can Move Your Plants

If you’ve sold your house, you may not be permitted to take your garden with you. Whether or not you will be able to do so depends on the terms of the house sale.

In general, plants and landscaping are included in most real estate sales. This means that buyers can expect to own all trees, shrubs, and outdoor rooted plants that come with the house.

When a farm is sold, however, the original owners can retain their right to the crops themselves. So, in essence, you can take your vegetable or flower garden with you.

If you’ve specified in the terms of sale that you wish to retain ownership of certain plants, then you’ll be able to take most anything with you-even trees!

Talk with your realtor ahead of time if you want to move your garden and make sure you have the legal capacity to do so. An experienced realtor can clarify this ahead of time.

3. Practice Proper Uprooting

Naturally, uprooting any plant can be a traumatic experience for the plant itself. Moving an entire garden requires uprooting, even if those plants are in planter boxes.

When planning to transport plants, practice proper uprooting habits. Water plants thoroughly ahead of time, and ensure that they are transported in roomy, dirt-filled pots.

It’s also wise to research the best methods for unearthing specific plants. Some plants are more tolerant of replanting than others.

For example, smaller and more upright plants are likely to handle replanting well, provided they are watered ahead of time and dug up with as much dirt clinging to their roots as possible.

Larger plants with bigger networks of roots will be more challenging. It’s wise to save these for last, especially plants that depend on a lot of water like tomato plants.

If you want to dig up a tree, that may be a different beast altogether. Contact a local arborist if you intend to transplant a well-established tree.

Otherwise, certain tree species can easily grow from spliced roots or branches, such as willows or aspens.

We recommend consulting a certified horticulturist too for more information about effectively transplanting certain plant species.

4. Transport Them Individually

When moving plants, you may be tempted to cart your shrubs and succulents to their new home with the rest of your belongings.

But plants can easily sustain damage during transport of any kind, particularly if they are squeezed in with a bunch of moving boxes. Moving your plants in a haphazard fashion can lead to leaf breakage and plant trauma.

Both of these things can make it harder for your plants to adapt to their new living situations.

Transport all of your plants individually. Yes, this may mean saving one moving van trip for your green friends. It may mean saving two!

When transporting plants, try to group them in “like” groups.

Keep all the succulents in one space, for example, and transport all of the flowers together. This will ensure that other plants won’t topple onto smaller, more delicate leaves during transport.

5. Replant in the Evening

Plants are more likely to adapt to new earth easily if they are replanted in cooler temperatures. The earth is often softer in the evening during warmer seasons and will have retained water from earlier.

Replant all of your green friends in the evening, ideally the evening of the day they have been moved. But once again, check in with your local horticulturist for additional best practices.

Be diligent with watering your plants after they’ve been introduced to a new garden. They will need the extra nutrients and love as they adapt!

6. Hire Professionals to Assist

If you are nervous about transporting your garden to a new locale, you can always hire professionals to assist. Moving companies are frequently trained in the safe transport of the most delicate belongings, including plants and trees.

Make sure the moving company you call is capable and experienced when it comes to moving gardens.

Just because a company is well-known doesn’t mean they will be duly cautious with your leafy friends!

Moving Plants to Your New Home

When moving plants, it’s important to be as strategic as possible. First and foremost, save the moving of the plants for last, especially if you are transporting multiple belongings.

When you do transport your garden, do so in a separate shipment from the others.

Uproot and transplant your garden following best practices, and do consult a professional when it comes to moving larger plants like trees. Consider hiring experts to aid in your move.

At Alero Moving, we pride ourselves on safe and effective delivery of just about anything. Start a conversation with us now ahead of your big move!

TOP