Unfortunately, the majority of moving companies can’t move plants. With all the heavy (and dangerous!) furniture and boxes they stuff into a truck, your plants would just get crushed. If a moving company will move your plants, chances are you’ll have to be charged extra since the process for plants is different and requires extra care.
If you’d like to avoid all this and move your plants from one home to the next yourself, look no further than right here. Second in the How to Move (to Austin) series, here is Real Men Moving’s guide on how to move different kinds of houseplants to a new place.
Outdoor Plants
Before we get into the process of how to move house plants (which is what we assume you’re here for) first, a note on outdoor plants. For the most part, we recommend leaving them behind, because they can be a tricky and expensive process to move and require a lot of preparation. However, if you’d really like your outdoor plants in your next home, here’s how to do it:
- Trim the plants back. The great thing about plants is that they continue to grow, so if you’ve got a big one with too many leaves, you can trim them for the move. This might even help with regrowth when your plant is in new soil.
- Water your plants well beforehand.
- Dig up your plants. Make sure to leave plenty of dirt around the roots so they stay intact and are ready to sink into new ground.
- Transport smaller plants in a paper bag, or bigger ones in burlap. Try to avoid using plastic, as this will make it harder for the plants to breathe.
- Continue watering the plants daily as you move. You can choose to place your plants in the bag or burlap they will be transported in earlier as they can survive in them for a few weeks, as long as you continue to water them. Be sure to plan a way to keep your plants in a shady area (but not completely dark) and well-watered as you’re moving them.
- Remember that your plants can be sensitive to temperature and climate changes if you’re moving to a very different place.
House Plants
Since most house plants live in pots, this process is much easier. If you choose to use a box and have multiple small plants to move, you can place all the plants in an open box (but not on top of each other!)
If you’re moving the plants just by carrying them with you in the car, then the process is simple. Just as you would any other day, make sure they’re well-watered and be prepared for any temperature changes the plants may have to get used to. You can wrap your plants in magazine or newspaper if the moving weather is cold to keep it from damaging.
Similar to the outdoor plant moving process, you can trim these plants before moving also if necessary. The key to moving plants to a new area is to make sure their surrounding environment changes as little as possible.
If you’re looking for a moving service to help you on your move around the central Texas area, you can contact us today at Real Men Moving here or view some of our local moving services here.
