Advice re keeping plants during garden redesign

Hi

I'm a new member :yess:and I've just been asked to help out in a well established garden with lots of plants/shrubs in it eg roses, phlox, fatsia, box, choisyia, euonymus, varigated holly, hydrangea, viburnum tinus, honeysuckle, pyracantha, bulbs etc. Some are very old and gone quite leggy eg rosemary, conifers, but most are in good condition especially those mentioned. The owners, my friends, are going to do some major building work on the house and redesigning of the garden. They would like a selection of their plants taken out, kept and then put back in new locations. The plants would be out for 2-3 months or possibly longer if the building work goes pear shaped.

Any advice as to how to keep the plants for that long but keep the cost down ?

I wondered about getting some car boot liners from poundland - they are basically plastic sheets with low sides, punching holes in the bottom for drainage, adding a layer of compost and then putting all the plants/shrubs all together in this 'container'. When lifting the plants I would keep as large a root ball as possible and pack compost around the plants as much as possible so that they have as much soil around them as I can give them. But the container is only foot deep max so. Obviously it would need watering periodically and when it gets warmer lots of watering but would something like this work? The alternative I can think of is to replant everything elsewhere in the garden once an area is cleared and then move it again to its final position but that's a lot more work and the clearing cannot start for a month. Of course happy to put in the hard graft but it'll cost my friends heaps more in my time. I want to get the plants lifted now as I have time and also whilst they are dormant as I think the upheaval will be less stressful for them.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and look forward to ideas as to the best way to approach this job.....

 

If using the tub option just be aware if the hard frosts come

 

I'd dig a trench somewhere and chuck them in. They've got two chances ...

How soon is this planned upheaval? if more than a month or so I'd get out there now - I mean TODAY !! - and stick a spade in and cut around each plant, they will then start to make some new roots and can live on the roots out of the bottom of the rootball in the meantime, then when you lift them (use a slightly larger radius circle) the area you cut will have made some fresh "feeding roots". Or dug a trench around them instead, and fill that with multi-purpose compost so they can form new roots into that and make the actual lifting easier.

That Rootgrow mycorrhizal fungi stuff might be prudent when you plant them. if you do the trench thing I would backfill around them with multi-purpose compost - something easy for the new roots to grow into, if you have heavy soil you'll never refill it without air pockets, or you will be stamping it down to make sure they are firm, and then digging the poor things up a couple of months later to put them back ... multi-purpose compost can just fall off the plants when you re-excavate them without actually damaging the newly formed roots - and you can scoop it out and use it to replant them the second time around too.

When you lift them cut them hard back - the reduced root won't be able to support the original canopy.

Having said that, when we did something similar we did no preparation, unceremoniously lifted them with a JCB, chucked them in a dumper, tipped them onto the flower bed, left them there a week or more, and then dug some holes and planted them in the border with a JCB ... no loving care was involved in the transplanting of those shrubs at all !


My blog: Replacing the Front Hedge

 

Thanks Kirsten that was really helpful to know that someone else has done something similar. And yes I plan to start the process asap assuming we don't get snow this weekend!!!

 

Hi Pip and welcome to the forum.

I don't know about shrubs - but for any hardy perennials you can dig them up and put them in a supermarket polybag - packed with plenty of soil. I left mine for many weeks, that way, over a summer period. They were absolutely fine. Over the summer you must water them, but at this time of the year there is little need. The bags must have drainage holes. If you have something too big for a polybag - then use a bin bag after making a few drainage holes.

Be aware that plants are a bit more susceptible to frost when they are in a bag or a pot - because it can get in from the sides as well as the top. But just push all the bags together and do anything that you can to minimise the side area. I have loads of normal garden perennials sitting outside now in pots, because I have nowhere to put them. They don't worry.

My plants come from Yorkshire and are not snobs. They can't tell the difference between a second hand torn polybag and a lovingly created, hand thrown pot in a special numbered edition from Harrods.

 

That's made it a racing certainty, eh? !!

 

Thanks Peter for your advice and again very good to know that someone else has done something similar. Loved your comment comparing polybags with designer plant pots from Harrods!!!! I'm a great fan of poundland and some of the garden stuff they sell is wonderful.

I hadn't thought about frost and a couple of you have now mentioned it. What about getting some fleece (poundland fleece is brilliant and only £1 per sheet and they are quite large) and wrapping it around the plants as they sit in their makeshift bed?

Here's to a warmer weekend so I might be able to get the spade/fork in the ground!!! Fingers crossed!!!

 

If the plants are in a bed I doubt the frost will be a problem - the soil will heat from below. Its when they are in pots, above ground, that their rootball / pot is likely to freeze. If they are in that state then some bubble wrap around the rootball will help (failing that fleece), but it only delays the freezing, so if we have several days where the temperature does not get above 0C then the pot will freeze anyway. If you have room in your garage / shed you could put them in there, in their pots, during the cold- Get them outside on days that are mild, although they won't need the light if they are deciduous, but getting some fresh air will stop moulds etc growing. If its just for a few days no need to do anything special, but don't make them warm - they will get a shock when they go back outside - so don;t bring them into the living room!

Poundland fleece is thin, and as such inclined to tear. Fine for a one-off job, but if you are buying some to reuse over several seasons its worth considering buying something thicker.