Moving house- when to dig up plants?

[hooliodancer]

I am moving, and leaving my beloved garden I started almost from scratch.

Most of the back is actually 2 allotments, so I am taking a lot of the things from there.

So I want to move

Roses- 3 recently planted climbers, 2 shrub roses. I have much older ones I would love to take too- 10 years old. I also have a 17 year old that got transplanted this year- due to our neighbours building an extension. Amazingly it thrived, but how would it respond to being moved again so soon?

Clematis - 4 recently planted. One 15 year old Viticella. Don't know if it's worth taking that.

Bamboo- only planted in April.

A willow hedge that cost me a fortune, planted in March. It was bought as slips. Is it worth trying to take it?

I have a lovely 15 year old olive tree, about 6 foot tall. I assume it's not worth tying to take that.

The move will be some time in January. I don't know whether I should dig the plants up now and pot them up, or do it nearer the time. I'm worried the earth might be fozen though. Any advice please?

[TeacupDrama]

if I was buying the house I would expect all the plants to be left it is generally assumed unless specifically mentioned in particulars that this would be the case, it is assumed you would take pots planters etc but i would be cross to move in and find holes where plants were when I viewed i would tell buyers and chat to solicitor asap

[Pootlebug]

What Teacup said. I have no idea about the best time to dig up plants, but if I were your buyer I would expect this to be clear.

[GiddyOnZackHunt]

We took some plants for sentimental reasons during one move. We took before pictures, labelled the plants we would remove and what we would replace them with. We communicated all this to the buyers and took pictures again.
The expectation is, as pp have said, that the plants in the ground stay but pots go.

[hooliodancer]

As I said, the plants I am taking are on an allotment. An allotment is rented.

All the plants in the garden that comes with the house will stay there.

[3luckystars]

I wouldn't take them at all. They might not make it, especially in January. You are making a new start with a new garden so I think you should start again with new flowers. I can understand you taking one or two if you were really sentimental about them but (and I understand this sounds mad) but I would leave them all together where they are settled.
I have never heard of anyone bringing plants with them, but I can totally understand you wanting to bring them if you think the next renter is not going to look after them.
I know that's not what you asked so please ignore my post if I have got the picture wrong.

What is your new garden like? Are you excited?

[notarehearsal]

I moved in February and dug up and took one olive tree. This was for sentimental reasons and agreed with buyer in advance. Sadly it didnt make it....I've moved more rurally and was told it was probably just a bit too cold compared to City living. Happily the ones in pots are fine

[hooliodancer]

Yes, I am very excited by my garden! It's nearly an acre, and a bit of a blank canvas as the people there don't like gardening!

There aren't many actual plants, which is why I want to take the ones from the allotments. I think the next tenants might not want my plants, they may prefer all veg! I had vegetables and flowers growing together.

I was thinking that I could pot them up now to try and avoid doing it in January.

[shovetheholly]

AN ACRE!!

I would think almost all of those things will be fine to dig up nowish, put in pots, and move in January. I wouldn't want to do it at the last minute either - too many other things happen and you end up not being able to take everything you want. Stuff like digging up a tree can take bloody ages- you might want to put it in a big old sack. But olive trees can definitely be moved - in fact there is a posh trade in getting old, gnarly specimens for £££££££££.

My experience has been that taking time to try to keep as much of the root ball as possible, and taking a lot of care post-transplanting (lots of nutrients, ensuring that the right amount of water is supplied) can make a big difference. Many things sulk for a bit, but then perk up again after a year.

[Trethew]

I did this two years ago for an autumn move, but I had started potting up stuff in the spring before moving. I didn't move many shrubs or trees - mostly too big. The herbaceous stuff (78 pots!) almost all survived and had made really nice rootballs by the end of summer. I was glad I had done it ahead as there wouldn't have been time later.

Agree with shove, definitely worth a try, the sooner the better. You've got nothing to lose. It will be easier if you cut back your roses and clematis at the same time.