How to safely move plants to your new home

In fact, the size of a garden can often be the deciding factor for many people when buying a new house. After spending a great deal of time, energy and money on selecting and caring for plants, it can feel a shame to leave them behind. That said, moving a plant from one location to another can be a difficult task, especially if you want to avoid hindering the plant's growth. Here are some helpful tips on the best ways to move plants to your new home.

Prepare the plants

Ideally, you should plan ahead and prepare your plants for the process a couple of weeks before your moving day. But if you've already left it too late then not to worry, you've still got time to get your plants into good shape. Firstly, prune the plants to make sure they’re not carrying dead weight. You should also get rid of pests or weeds using a suitable pesticide or weedkiller. This will ensure that you don't contaminate any existing plants in your new garden. Finally, you should check the kind of soil in your new home to make sure the area is suitable for re-planting at a later date.

Dig the plant up

If you are planning on digging up plants from your garden, you should aim to do this a few weeks in advance to allow the plant to dry out; this will save you the hassle of muddy transportation. Wrap the root ball in a hessian cloth or something similar and keep it moist but not too wet; this will protect the roots. The plant can stay like this in a dry part of your garden until you are ready to move.

Choose suitable containers

Make sure that you have chosen suitable containers for your plants before moving them. This will make the plants much easier to transport. The right container will depend on the type of plant that you are looking to move as it can differ between larger outdoor plants and smaller indoor ones.

• For larger plants, make sure you check the condition of their pots and troughs. Ceramic and terracotta pots can often break when lifted due to cold weather so you might want to think about temporarily moving them into plastic pots.
• For smaller plants, pack them in a large box with holes for breathing and use newspaper to make sure the pots stay upright. This will protect the plant on the journey as the leaves and branches can get damaged if it has fallen over.

Plant straight away

You should establish your plants in their new home as soon as you can. Once planted, make sure that you give them a good watering to help them re-hydrate and settle in the soil. If you can’t plant them straight away then make sure they stay wrapped up and keep the roots moist until you can plant them. Keep indoor plants protected and make sure they are not open to the elements while you are still moving your belongings into the new home.

By following these simple steps you can successfully transport your current plants to your new garden. This can save you a lot of time and money in buying new plants and nurturing them all over again. Be aware though that plants may still be prone to some damage on the move, but these top tips should help you to keep your plants protected on the journey and get them to your new home safely.