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orangesprout

Need advice: Moving/storing perennials for at least six months

OrangeSprout
9 years ago

Hello forum! I am looking for advice.

We are moving next March, which is near the tail end of our Minnesota winter, but the ground will still likely be frozen. I have a back yard full of perennials that I would like to take with me. I do not need to leave them, as the next owner has indicated that they will be ripping everything out and putting down sod. :(

So I'd like to take a bunch of these beauties with me. Trouble is, how to do it? I probably need to dig them now before the ground freezes. And then store them until we get in our new place and the ground thaws.

Any suggestions on how to do this? I was thinking of digging them all up and putting in pots. Watering well and letting drain until freeze. Round them all up in one place and put temporary fencing around the whole works, so I can fill with a layer of leaves.

Or would it be better to try to find a covered garage or basement?

In addition, I think that I will probably move all of these to my parents place so we don't have to mess with them during our move. They are in Zone 3.

Any thoughts, suggestions, or advice?

Comments (7)

  • arbo_retum
    9 years ago

    it would help to know:
    how far away are you moving?
    will you be renters or owners?
    if the latter,are you on good relations w/ the current owners? if you are, maybe they would let you heel them in and mulch them for the winter all together in a protected spot on your property to be... Ideally, they would let you dig some long strips and turn over the soil such that you could heel in all the potted plants and then mulch them heavily after the ground freezes.

    of course, depending upon your answers to the previous questions, this advice could be totally irrelevant..

  • NHBabs z4b-5a NH
    9 years ago

    For our last move we arranged with the new owner that we could come back early the next growing season to dig plants.

  • ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
    9 years ago

    pot them up .. and your potting media is the most important variable.. pay good money... for good media ...

    most nurseries have recycle bins.. start collecting pots.. ASAP ...

    get them potted ASAP ... so they can settle in the pots ..

    NEVER in the basement ...

    think long and hard.. subject to ASAP ..lol ..about what is so treasured.. that it has to come with you ... the more you leave because they are common.. the better off you will be ...

    do make an agreement with new owner .... all you need then .. is grocery bags ...

    the trick with pots.. in the great white north.. is to tip them all on their sides once dormant ... [but before they freeze onto the soil] ..... we dont want water accumulating in the media ... over winter... no plant prefers roots frozen into an ice cube ...

    i moved 1650 potted hosta a decade ago ... looking back.. i should have left 1600 of them ...

    ken

  • NHBabs z4b-5a NH
    9 years ago

    Ken is totally right about tipping potted plants on their sides to keep water from accumulating. I have lost plants from too-wet pots, both ones that were buried in mulch or snow and others I had heeled in since some winters our ground freezes deep enough for the drainage to be a problem, even in mulched areas.

  • sunnyborders
    9 years ago

    Some good advice above.

    I always pot up several dozen perennial divisions in late summer to middle fall, everything from spring primulas and lungworts to summer and fall garden phlox and asters. I use our own garden soil (upgraded clay) and have a lot of the plants in two gallon pots. The plants are cut back when, or before, they are divided.

    I water the plants during the fall. They stay outside, all winter, upright in their pots, against a protective wall (between our neighbours' and our houses). The soil in the pots is eventually frozen solid (the plants have their own anti-freeze proteins). The pots are usually soon covered with snow.

    There is always very little mortality. I suspect a contributing factor to what mortality there is, is me moving some plants (in their pots) too slowly in spring into a sunnier location.

    This certainly works where we live. We have strong seasonality.

  • floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
    9 years ago

    My weather conditions are different but I've moved perennials by digging them and then packing them side by side in shallow crates or boxes. They won't be growing over winter so roots don't tangle. Much quicker than potting them individually, quicker and easier to move and there's a greater volume of earth to even out the temperature. Then I'd treat as SunnyBorders suggests for pots.

  • sunnyborders
    9 years ago

    Useful suggestion, Floral.

    I use pots.
    (1) for labelling purposes
    (2) weight considerations
    (3) because I give most of the plants away
    (4) (just me!) I get rid of excess soil that way.
    Think it's still reasonable weed-free
    (and invasive spring bulb-free) garden
    soil, but am always upgrading our soil as I
    divide and replant through the growing
    season.

    They say "a pearl is not had for the asking".

    I have to admit, Floral, that there's more (likely yours) and there's less (mine) efficient ways to obtain one.

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