Moving is stressful – but adding your precious plant family to the mix can feel overwhelming. As somebody who has moved quite a bit over the last 10 years, I’ve picked up a few best practices for ensuring my plants survive a move and make it into their new home. In fact, I just moved with no casualties!
Whether you’ve got a few plants or too many to count, these tips will help you successfully move your botanical babies. This post focuses on moves in which you can transport your plants yourself. I’ve used these to get my plants across town and across the state.
Prep your plants
First, it’s important to get your plants in tip-top shape ahead of your move. The healthier your plants are pre-move, the better off they’ll be during transport.
To do this, you should water your plants ahead of the move. I find that watering my plants a few days before move day is helpful in that my plants are nice and hydrated and having moist soil keeps dirt spills to a minimum.
Next, you should also go through your plants and pull off any dead leaves and trim bits that need to go. This will help ensure that they have the maximum amount of energy and that that energy is going to the right places.
Take inventory of plants and materials
While you’re prepping your plants, it’s a good time to also take inventory of how many plants you have as well as the various sizes of your plants. This will help you get a better understanding of how many boxes you’re going to need.
I’m a big fan of large plastic storage bins, I use them for everything – including moving my plants. To pack my plants, I make sure I have enough empty bins and a stack of old newspapers.
Packing is key
Fill up the bin with plants (no need to take them out of their pots), placing them in side-by-side snuggly. If there are any gaps that leave pots clanging, use your newspaper to keep things in place. Leave the tops off your boxes so your plants can breathe, and you’re ready to move your babies!
Transport them yourself
Transport your plants yourself. I’ll say it again, transport your babies yourself! I would not leave my plants in the hands of movers, if at all possible. Only you will be able to keep an eye on them and know to look out for your precious cargo.
Since my latest move was local, I had the luxury of taking multiple trips, the last one was the plant trip. Even if I was using movers, I’d want to transport my plants myself so I could keep an eye on them.
Can’t move your plants?
If you’re not able to move with your plants – maybe a plant is too large or you don’t think it’ll thrive in your new space – don’t toss them! You have a couple of options.
Take a cutting and propagate it in your new space. You’ll have a piece of your plant to hold onto + you’ll still have the option for the next two points.
Sell your plants locally. I had a few plants that were just too large and would not fit into my new apartment and decided to sell them on Nextdoor. I was surprised by how many of my neighbors were interested!
Give away plants to friends. If you’re like me and are always trying to get your friends into plants, nows your chance to share the love. Give away plants to your friends and you can continue seeing them grow!
xoxo, jackie
