So, the paperwork is signed, boxes are piling up in the hallway, and the removal van is booked. All good, except every time you look out of the window a quiet voice reminds you that the rambling rose, the dwarf acer, and half the herb bed still belong to the old address. Garden plants don’t fit neatly into a cardboard box. They do, however, cope surprisingly well with a change of postcode if you give them a little thought before moving day.
Sort out the legal bit early
In England and Wales, anything rooted in the ground is usually classed as part of the property. Your buyer expects it to stay put unless the contract says otherwise. The TA10 form – the fixtures and fittings list – has a box for garden plants to be removed.
Fill it in the moment your solicitor sends it over. A quick email can stop weeks of awkwardness later, and everybody knows which shrubs are going and which are staying.
Choose the right moment
Plants travel best when they’re dozy. Between late autumn and early spring, most woody stems and tough perennials are half-asleep. Cool soil, steady rain and low light take the sting out of being dug up. A summer move is not out of the question, but expect more watering, more shade, a cool van from Bright Movers, and the odd trim to keep leaves from wilting on the motorway.
Gather the proper kit before you dig
A sharp spade, a garden fork for leverage, sheets of hessian or thick plastic to wrap root balls, roomy tubs of damp compost and a handful of weather-proof labels – that little collection turns a risky scramble into a tidy operation. Clear labels matter because bare sticks all look alike by February to the untrained eye.
Keep them comfortable on the road
Plants should be the last things onto the van and the first things out. Stand pots upright if the ceiling allows; where it doesn’t, lean tall stems gently against a wall rather than laying them flat. Crack a window for fresh air and, if you’re travelling far, mist the leaves whenever you stop for petrol.
Replant as soon as possible
A forty-eight-hour target works well. Dig a hole twice the width of the wrapped root ball, set the plant at its original depth, water thoroughly, firm the earth with your boot and throw down a layer of mulch to lock in moisture. If the final spot isn’t ready, heel pots into a spare patch of soil so the roots stay cool and dark.
A house move always swallows time, but ring-fencing at least half a day for the garden saves months of work and a small fortune at the garden centre. Put the plants in the paperwork, dig them when the weather is kind, treat them gently in transit and get them back in the ground fast. Come next spring, familiar leaves will unfurl and the new place will feel like home far sooner than you thought possible.
Photo by Pankaj Shah on Unsplash
Please note this is a contributed post.
