To take plants from my late mum's garden

[TheoriginalLEM]

My mum passed away just before Christmas and now I have to clear her house.

There are several plants that i would like to retrieve from the garden.

A magnolia bush, an acer and a couple rose bushes.

Will i kill them if i move them now in this cold? Its a council house so i will need to clear it soon.

Any thoughts on how to transfer them?

Sorry for your loss. I really wish i had done this when my mum died and i sold her house which was my childhood home.

The roses should be fine , especially if you pot them now, the acer too I think, the magnolia will be the one to worry about as it flowers so early in the year. You could chance putting the roses in the ground right away but if you plant them in large pots and plant them out properly in April they are more likely to survive. Depending on the size of the Acer and Magnolia , you could try the same, but they may be too big ?
Do you have a greenhouse or a friend with one ? As they will need to be kept sheltered from freezing weather while in a pot. Probably you are going to have to risk planting the two trees, in which case a very deep hole, somewhere sheltered, and plenty of mulch on top, and fingers crossed.

Now's the time to do it.

I think it's lovely idea.

I've successfully moved a rambler rose (although within my own garden as it was destroying a fence) in November, as long as you prune hard, replant with a large enough hole and avoid weeks when it will freeze (David Austin Roses advised keeping in its own soil in an insulated bucket if so and waiting - and not adding any fertiliser until Spring, then a well rotted manure mulch around late March)
Don't know about the other species though.

Sorry for your loss, LEM. It's a lovely idea.

Now is good time to move plants but avoid pruning the magnolia as it makes them send up vertical watershoots. The bigger the rootball the better as they have fleshy roots.

I had my garden relandsced in deep winter and several large shrubs were moved. All but one survived. If possible can you get a gardener to do it for you? Digging deep enough is going to be hard work if they are well established.

Sorry about your DM, I’ve seen you write about her often. You were always very good to her despite the challenges.

Very sorry for your loss OP.
Winter is a good time to move dormant trees and shrubs if they are small enough. Dig out a large rootball if you can and try to keep them in the soil (or same type) through to Spring. If your soil type is different you may want to add compost which matches your Mum's garden. Acers by nature like more acid soil, roses do well on clay so if supplementing it may be worth trying to recreate that.

The magnolia is likely to be the most diffiicult IME.

The RHS web site offers a lot of info on plant management, movement, pruning etc freely available. If you have a local allotment group they may well be able to offer tips based on local soil conditions, some are really helpful.

Roses and acers I’ve moved fine - get them in a big pot with the right souls.

Magnolia is much harder. I took one from my Grandma’s when she passed - I had been in a pot on her patio. Planted it in my garden 5 years ago, it gets a couple more leaves every year, think we had all of 7 last summer, and lots of the branches died already. When you transport it try to not let and of the branches get damaged- but that’s very hard with a tree in a car.

Good luck and sorry for your loss xx

Soil, not souls

I’m glad I came across this thread.

We’re moving house soon and I’ve become very attached to a yew tree that has grown out nowhere in the shade of our magnolia tree. I want to dig it up and take it with us because I just think it’s so clever to have grown (in all likelihood) from a random seed dropped by a bird.

I moved my mums 4 acers 8 counties in a rickety van. Luckily they were in pots already but I was worried they would die. All of them survived and are such a lovely thing to watch through the seasons to remind me of her so try it you have nothing to lose.

Make sure you give the acer especially the right conditions when you replant it.

And give them all some mycorrhizal fungi to help them reestablish their roots.

I’ve moved acer and roses the acer is now perfectly happy in a pot, the magnolia I would have thought more difficult but you’ve nothing to lose by trying