removing plants now for house move

[butteriesplease]

hi, we are hoping to move house in May/June. I have a few plants that I want to take with me. If I dig them up and pop them in pots will they survive ok?

I want to take:
snowdrops from mum (currently in flower, so I can actually find them!)
2 x hellebores my mum gave me (one pink, one white, both flowering now)
some slips from buddleia plants
probably some alchemilla - that seems to self propagate wildly so I could find some baby plants probably...
I've a few pretty well established shrubs (one is a Wiegela, the other is I think a Sorbaria) - can I take slips from them too?
these are mostly things my mum (who was a very keen gardener) gave me, so I really want to bring them with me when we move.

Also, it's not strictly gardening, but I also have a massive christmas cactus (over 50years old) - how on earth can I move it without causing damage? When I brought it down from my parent's house it suffered breakage and I'd like to avoid that if possible.

any top tips appreciated!

Have you asked the buyer what they think about this before you start on the practicalities? You generally can’t do this. Maybe a cutting or two or a few bulbs would be OK.

Make sure you make it clear you are taking certain plants, it is usually assumed the garden planting will stay intact.

however in answer to your actual question, hellebores wait until they’ve finished flowering and keep the rootball intact.
snowdrops should be fine as they’re just bulbs but they can be fussy about where they are planted I’ve had zero success in my front garden
taking cuttings is a perfect time as spring is usually the best time for soft wood cuttings.
don’t worry about the cacti they’re as tough as old boots, if it gets damaged just remove the damaged bits. It might enjoy being repotted when it gets to its new home.

Also, it's not strictly gardening, but I also have a massive christmas cactus (over 50years old) - how on earth can I move it without causing damage? When I brought it down from my parent's house it suffered breakage and I'd like to avoid that if possible. Huge box, crumpled paper to hold pot firmly in position, lay out the plant on top of the paper, 6in layer of crumpled paper on top. Remember that even with your best labelling, the removal guys will leave the box upside down in your bedroom, so remember that in your packing.

You are allowed to take plants, but you have to specify that they’re not included in the sale. If no-one will notice what you’ve taken, you could risk not telling them. Taking a clump of snowdrops from the spread of 00’s, no problem, physically transplanting the specimen bush in the middle of the lawn, not on, unless you tell the buyer.

whatever you take you need to put any big stuff on the contents and fitting TA10 form. I wish I’d taken more from my old garden. I didn’t want to piss off the buyers near to exchange as I (wrongly) assumed the garden was an asset. Imagine my horror when the neighbours told me afterwards that the new buyers had removed everything for an extension / garden “makeover” (artificial grass)

Dig them up now with plenty of roots and put them in large pots ready to move. Snowdrops are best moved now 'in the green' so ditto into pots. Let the buyer know they are going with you, but if they are already potted up when it sells they are not part of the sale. A buyer probably won't even notice if it's just a few plants.

Re the Christmas cactus.

I too have a 50+ year old beast. It travelled with me on the front seat when I moved. I - am convinced something bad will happen if I let it die.... If you do lose leaves, they are the easiest thing to propagate. There are different techniques but I just pop into the soil mix. Slow growing, but it will take.

thanks everyone! house not yet on market (very soon!) so I think I can safely dig etc, now. Garden is fairly small as it is, and don't think the two hellebores would be missed in any case - they are fairly small and would have stopped flowering by time of moving - but I might mention to estate agent that a few small things might come with me. I should probably be focussing more on tidying the garden...!

I will move the christmas cactus myself (we aren't going far) very, very carefully. Top tip re big box and lots of layers.

I will move the christmas cactus myself (we aren't going far) very, very carefully. Top tip re big box and lots of layers. The aim is to make sure it can’t move.

I successfully moved a greenhouse full of cacti 200 miles. And that was with removal men dealing with the boxes once packed.

We did this last year at the end of January just before going on the market. Dug up a small cherry tree and a rose plus split various perennials so that everything I wanted to take was in pots by the time we went on the market. They survived well and are in temporary accommodation with us waiting for their new home. Good luck with the move.

I potted everything I wanted to take before listing and just told any viewers that if it was in a pot it was coming with me, movers were great and filled half a truck with it

I put little markers in my garden to indicate what was coming with me. I took some very large palm trees, a willow tree and lots of shrubs. And all my large pots. You just make it clear on the paperwork. No different to taking your curtain poles!

You definitely should make it clear if you’re taking something substantial from a garden. Our vendors took the pond. Not just the fish; I’m talking the plants, the liner, everything. All that was left was a hole in the ground.

Considering I’d mentioned to the vendor at the viewing how lovely I thought the pond was, you’d think she’d have let us know.

Slips - no issue at all. Ditto alchemilla babies. Snowdrops - if you’re concerned then lift them as soon as they go over and replace them with some non-sentimental ones; the hellebores are the only thing that could possibly count but if the buyers last saw the house before they were flowering then I think just lifting them and replacing them with something else would be more than fine.

As long as you pot them up before listing the house you should be fine. I brought 3 shrubs that had been in my grandmother's garden with me when we moved.

I agree that those things sound easy to move - and you've probably got enough time to see if the slips have taken and to re-take them if need be.

This thread reminded me of when I was renting and had planted up the raised beds and put pots everywhere. Naturally we removed them all when we left (the raised beds had been empty soil) and we had a furious message from the landlord saying the new tenants had expected 'the garden' to say. Haha, no. (I appreciate it is very different if buying and selling, but it amused me.)