RE: Moving a garden

I'm just in the process of moving right now. From a farm/garden of 30 years to a smaller rental property for a year. Then hopefully into another garden for another 30. :-)

Advice already given from folks has been bang-on with regard to only taking the best. Flowering perennials are relatively easy to come by in this day of Internet shopping and searching. I'm only taking about half a dozen really rare perennials (double bloodroots, South African trollius, and breeding Hellebore stock) - the rest I can replace with judicious purchasing. The entire daylily collection (some 350 varieties) is being left in place - I've had enough of daylilies. I'm still eyeing the hosta collection though. :-) Woody plants are being left as again - there's not much here that I can't easily find somewhere else and the work (who needs more work when the boxes of books fill a truck all by themselves) ;-) is way too much for the anticipated replacement cost.

I wanted to add two bits of thought to the discussion.

The first is that a new garden is an adventure - a blank canvas. I fully intend to let my new garden take on its own personality. Just like my old garden represented my thinking of the past - the new garden will represent me in my future. I'm not interested in replicating the old garden. Let the new geography and setting speak for itself. The next one will be highly maintenance-free and the plant selection will be much more selective for instance.

The second thought is that with the use of an anti-dessiccant - you can move fully grown plants (woody and perennial) at the height of the growing season. Water well the week before moving and spray the anti-dessiccant the early *morning* of the day you're going to move the plants. Cover all surfaces of the leaves. Dig carefully - getting as much root as possible - move and immediately replant. The anti-dessiccant will stop moisture loss from the leaves for a month or so and you'll have excellent results moving your plants. I know a commercial grower who used to move fully grown shrubs this way at the height of the season with minimal losses.

Enjoy the moving adventure.

Doug

Most plants were still dormant when transplanted. Plants selected for moving were watered thoroughly the day before being dug. Carefully keeping as much soil around the roots as possible, I dug and wrapped each plant in a plastic bag. Some plants went into cardboard boxes with a little soil thrown in over the top to cover any exposed roots. The day after digging the plants up, I transported them to the new garden. Each plant was either planted or heeled in for safe keeping until a garden bed was ready for them. Mulched and thoroughly watered, the plants settled in to their new home.

I watered the plants for the rest of the growing season with at least an inch a week, if rainfall was less than an inch for the week. July, August and September see very little rain in the Pacific Northwest and a critical time for newly established plants. Established plants can get by with a good mulch and less water. Moisture loving plants will require supplemental watering during this period.

My gardens have a very unestablished look to them this year where once was grass. In a few more years my gardens will start to take on that jungle look again as I look forward to another new adventure in gardening.



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* Debra Teachout-Teashon
* Washington state USA
* USDA zone 8b possibly 9a
* 22F (lowest in seven years)
* <http://www.rainyside.com/>http://www.rainyside.com (Rainy side gardeners)

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Doug Green
Author of the award winning "Gardening Wisdom"
Free gardening newsletter at www.gardening-tips-perennials.com

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