moving a garden
One of the worst things about moving is leaving your garden behind. I wanted to take mine with me. Unfortunately I had some pretty dire conditions to work against, such as 100-plus-degree drought weather and moving them over a hundred miles in a U-Haul. When we sold our house we added a clause to the contract allowing us to take any plants we wanted.
The method I followed was to put them into pots with potting soil. I tried to clean off as much of their old soil as I dared. A friend of mine who teaches a horticulture class recommends doing it this way. I trimmed the way back. In a lot of cases I barely left any leaves at all. I put them in a shady spot until the move.
I was afraid they would burn up in the trailer but I could not see any alternative to that. It would have taken too many trips in the pickup and besides the wind would probably have been worse for them than the extra-high temperature of the trailer.
Once here I lined then up against a north wall where they were out of the direct sun and wound a soaker hose through them to keep them moist. Some cedar branches in front discourage the deer from making lunch out of them. So far most of them are still alive. Once the temperatures start to cool off a little more I will start to put them in the ground.
August 31st, 2006 @ 10:00 pm
What an undertaking! If I moved I would probably take my oxblood lily bulbs but nothing else. Of course, after this drought there isn’t much left to take. My hat’s off to you. You are one dedicated gardener!
August 31st, 2006 @ 10:35 pm
Good luck starting your new garden, Bill. I’m glad you were able to bring so much of it with you to make you feel at home.
September 2nd, 2006 @ 8:56 pm
Good luck! Moving a garden is something I’ve done before, but we had the plants growing in containers on a deck already. It’s not fun moving in the hottest time of the year but we did that, too.
Now just a little rain and a cool front and you’ll be closer to planting time!
Annie