i moved 1750 pots.. 65 miles .. THIS IS EASY .. lol...

but we need more facts as to when... how long.. etc...

plastic grocery bags will work up to a few weeks.. kept in shade.. and left open

give us every single fact you can think of...

i would prefer as early in spring as you can.. or in fall ... if it can wait.. i would NOT do this in july/august .. IF it can be avoided .....

really.. but for some hard work.. this is NO BIG DEAL ....

ken

1750 pots?! You really love your plants! Right now, in Wisconsin, we're having a late spring, very cold and very wet. My garden is mostly shade, so much of is just starting to break ground.The plants are natives and other vigorous plants (think hostas, coral bells, astilbes, goat's beard, solomon seal, lilies, etc), and a few smaller shrubs (ninebark, wegela, coralberry)

I'm thinking it's probably a good thing for the garden (if not my back) to force me to separate many of these. It'll probably be for about 2 weeks. Other than finding a high school kid with big shoulders, any tips?

P.S. Years ago, before the earth cooled, I went to school in Adrian!

Hey, this is kind of similar to another discussion I read before this one. White plastic bags shouldn't get too hot if your time frame is long enough that you think the plants need significant amounts of sun while out of the ground. A hole at the bottom of each can help make sure they don't turn into little ponds if it rains. How long do you think the work will take?

When I go dig freebies that I know will have to sit before I can plant them, I will either bag them or use extra totes (like the 20/30 gallon storage ones) for them. I'll make sure everything is moist and keep them in the shade. I've moved hosta, daylily, daisy, even a rose this way. I like the totes a little better than the bags because it's easier to get them in and out to me, without catching the bag/ripping it. But I'll do either/or both depending on the plant/root ball.

purpleinopp, thanks so much for the link to another discussion...lots of helpful hints there. Sounds like plastic grocery bags will be the way to go.

I also have water issues through a large sunny perennial bed as well as through a shady part of the yard. I haven't figured out how to solve the issues yet but hope to have address it this fall. In the mean time, I have started to relocated as many perennials as possible now. I don't have a lot of extra sunny space so things are getting packed together, but I hope to replant them this fall or maybe even next spring.

How is the berm and swale being installed? Are you going to have a rock retaining wall or will it have grass on top?

We had a swale/berm put in last year in another part of the yard (with plans to put this one in, this summer), wide but not very deep, about 80' long, with netting, hay, soil, and grass seed on top. The difference with the one this year will be the plants. Probably have river rock, pea gravel or something similar for the swale, plants on the berm.

P.S. Years ago, before the earth cooled, I went to school in Adrian!

==>> now that cracked me up ...

actually.. i have an adrian zip code.. i live out near the raisin township hall off gady ..

if those existed back when the earth was cooling.. lol ..

ken