How to Move a Garden in Southern Ontario
Renovations, a change of location, municipal works, or just a redesign, there are so many instances when moving a garden might be necessary. So often plants hold sentimental value and letting them die or leaving them behind just is not an option for you. Having moved many gardens, many times, here are my best tips for you to relocate your garden with the least amount of loss.
I’ve had this topic on mind for a long time now, as I have it pop up in conversation and see it in Facebook Gardening groups regularly too. And it is so region specific. The local climate, and your microclimates play a big role in the success of the transplant.
So as I watch Hydro dig up an area that the original owners of my home had planted with peonies, that I moved as soon as I was able in order to preserve them, I thought I’d share what I have learned over the years from moving multiple times, with my plants.
Assessing the value of a plant
Losing certain plants is a non-negotiable when they have sentimental value. Often times it was a loved one who planted it and they are no longer with us. The plant serves as a symbol of their presence. These are the plants worth fighting for. You can possibly get the exact same plant at stores but it isn’t THE plant that your Mother/Aunt/Dad etc planted. A replacement did not have that persons hands on the plant and intention at buying is no longer theirs. A straight replacement just is not the same.
Other plants might have grown on you to become favourites. Or perhaps the budget is all going towards a new roof and you can’t afford to replace the gardens that the new roof workmanship will damage. Or the story of my life, you rent and it’s time to move onto the next home and leaving the plants behind will spell out their doom.
All of these circumstances hold value and that value needs to be weighed against the effort, resources (time, manpower and vehicles or tools) and cost to the plants health.
These 60 gallon grow bags have been a favourite of mine for housing plants that don’t yet have a permanent home. They hold enough soil mass that they don’t freeze and thaw the way smaller pots do and they don’t crack or let your plants roots get soggy with the winter precipitation.
Season
Alas, some seasons are better then others.
Winter might be tied with summer on being the worst. The good thing about the winter is the plant is already dormant so the impact is minimal. The ability to dig or access the plant, or have anywhere safe to transport it to, where it won’t have it’s roots damaged by the extreme freeze-thaw cycles of our Southern Ontario winters, is where the problem lies. Depending on where in Ontario you are located, you can usually still manually dig into December, assuming we haven’t had heaps of snow. January and February, the ground is often too solid, and the snow accumulation too great to dig out plants without machinery. If you have a feeling like a move may be imminent, or work might have to be done (like your foundation walls were leaking the prior winter and this winter you may be forced to do an emergency waterproofing), dig out the plants in the Autumn.
Summer might seem like a straightforward choice for transplanting but it can be extremely hard on plants. With all the rain the month of July received in 2024 you’d never know it, but usually our summers have a lot of heat, pests and reduced precipitation. The ground becomes quite hard (especially the clay soil of the upper GTA) and it’s like digging into concrete. Getting the entire rootball out, without damage, in these conditions can be tricky. The plants have also grown significantly by now and have a large mass of leaves and possibly even flowers to support. All of these branches add vitality to a plant in place, but become energy sinks for a transplanted one.
Spring is a good choice if you have the option of choosing. Especially for spring ephemerals that disappear later in the growing season, this is when you can spot them. Herbaceous plants are usually still a very manageable size and easy to spot. Woody plants won’t have fully leafed out yet, and may not have expended energy blooming yet so their roots will still have a good energy reserve. The abundance of rain can lead to a lot of heavy, compacted soil unfortunately, but it can also assist greatly with softening clay soil and watering in the plants in their new home.
Autumn is my favourite though, specifically mid September. Plants are already stockpiling energy into their roots for the coming winter, their leaves have done their thing. Gentle rains have normally started up again so the ground is easier to work with and the plants will get some routine watering from nature. Add to that, the pest pressure of the summer has disappeared. (Pests are often drawn to weakened or stressed plants, further compounding the issue.) There is still a lot of time for the root system to get established before the soil freezes for the winter, but it won’t have to be supporting the extent of the leaves and blooms that it might have all summer long. You can still plant into early/mid November in Southern Ontario with great success.
The following are a few scenarios that you might face and how I would treat each.
I dug up my plants in the fall but the work won’t be done until winter is underway, will they survive in pots over the winter?
If you have another area in your yard that you don’t mind digging into, I would put the plants into containers, and then plant it, container and all, into another area. This will protect the roots from the freeze thaw cycles and make your work in the spring really easy. Simply pull the pot out, and replant in the desired area.
If you have nowhere to “plant” the pot then the next scenario is for you.
I dug up my plants in the fall but I am moving in the middle of winter. Will my plants survive in pots all winter?
We want to shield the roots from those freeze-thaw cycles as much as possible. If you can, choose a bigger then necessary container so you have more soil mass to insulate the roots. This is where I really liked the 60 gallon and up fabric grow bags. Ideally, keep the containers in an unheated shed or a garage. This will help regulate the moisture and the temperature. If this is not an option, place them in an area that does not get full sun, or one where you can mound snow on top of. Both will help create consistency in exposure. The cold wont kill your hardy plant, rather the temperature swinging from mild to freezing will. Bonus points if you have an old blanket/comforter (bubble wrap also works) that you can wrap around the containers to further insulate them.
I’m moving in the summer, but the ground is so hard, how do I get my plants out?
Soak the area throughly before trying to dig. A nice slow trickle so that the water is not running off into other areas and is instead permeating deep into the soil. This may take a few rounds especially if your target is on a slope and keeping the water in place is tricky. This will also help hydrate the plant before digging out. Ideally dig it out first thing in the morning or later in the evening, but avoid a mid day, mid summer transplant to reduce stress on the plant. Whether its destination is a container or another permanent location, water thoroughly upon arrival.
Ideally, before digging it out, cut the plant back dramatically. Especially shrubs but herbaceous plants too. This will reduce the amount of energy the plant has to expend to keep its various parts alive and will allow more energy to go back to the roots for a quicker and more successfull establishment. Water daily for the next week. Then start backing off to every other or every third day, then back off to weekly as it gets established.
I got the plant into it’s new home but it is looking so sad. Will it survive?
Only time will tell but if you:
-took the biggest soil ball possible and interfered with the roots as little as possible, and
-cut the plant back before (or after) transplanting so it can focus it’s energy, and
-watered slow and long, with regularity,
Then your chances are good that the following year it will bounce right back. Plants are more resilient then we often give them credit for.
It’s the middle of winter, we just found out that we have to move and I can’t dig out my plant(s). What can I do?
Take a cutting. If the entire plant is not accessible for digging out then the next best option is to start a new plant from a cutting.
If you are selling your home you may be able to work it into the selling agreement that you can come back in the spring to collect the plant, or take a cutting of the plant then. Keep in mind that if you are selling a home with a full garden and do not put any terms into the agreement, and then you empty the garden taking all your plants with you, you could face some litigation.
Can I transplant bulbs when they are blooming?
You betcha! I would suggest cutting the flower stem first and enjoying it as a cut flower. It will fade extremely fast and will be an energy drain if left on the plant. Leave the foliage in tact though! The foliage will go limp and not look the best but it is refilling the bulb with energy for the following year.
They may not bloom the following spring. Again leave the foliage. Let that bulb charge back up. Usually by the second year it will be back on schedule with flowers. This applies to forced bulbs as well.
The exception to this is if you have fancy tulip bulbs. Think the peony, parrot or fringed style kind. These tend to only last one to two seasons as it is. They aren’t reliable rebloomers and serve better treated as an annual. I’d suggest saving the effort and just sourcing new ones.
I want to move a tree, is this a good idea?
This depends on a few factors, mostly being the size of the tree.
Unlike a shrub, chopping back a tree is not ideal. You can coppice it but it often will effect the entire form of the tree and not in a positive way. To get the entire root ball of a tree, and deal with the branching structure, and the weight of this unit, this is a multi-person job that might even require machinery. Fall is definitely the time to attempt this but, moving, or giving away larger trees is not something I would recommend. This is a plant that I would suggest parting ways with rather then attempting to move. (The same goes for very established shrubs.)
Bonus Tips
Use a garden fork rather then a spade or shovel to avoid slicing through roots.
Give a wide berth around the plant you are attempting to dig out so you can disrupt the roots as little as possible.
Water well before digging to both prepare the plant and soften the soil.
Fabric shopping bags make for great transplant containers and you can often find people giving them away for free online if you need more. Places like Dollarama sell really large ones if you have a bigger root ball.
If your plants won’t be planted right away, store them under the canopy of a tree so they don’t bake in the sun. Make sure to water regularly.
When replanting be mindful of the new depth of plants. Each plant may have a different preference, but some can be fussy and refuse to bloom (iris, peony) or develop rot/fungal issues if buried too deeply.
I acquired nearly all the plants that I brought with me to our current home by digging them out from someone else’s garden or moving them from my prior garden. Once here I found plants that had been lost to the wild and were facing doom with upcoming construction. The tips we covered here have served me well in various soil types and seasons, time and time again and I’m confident they will give you the same success with your own garden move.
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