How to Prepare Your House Plants for Moving
When you start preparing yourself for your house move, one thing you may forget about initially is how you are going to move your house plants. It may seem easier to just leave them behind, but what will your new home feel like bare of any plants?
You can actually move house plants with relative ease, it just requires a little preparation in advance.
Get Prepared
First of all decide which plants you want to take with you. For all others, start finding them new homes with neighbours or friends, who may be grateful for a little greenery in their lives. Another good place to offer house plants in on local Facebook groups or via Nextdoor.
Next you will need to start collecting sturdy boxes and saving packaging which you can use to protect plants whilst in transit. Think online delivery boxes, such as Amazon or fruit and vegetable boxes from supermarkets.
Unlike your other removal boxes, plants cannot be stacked, so you will also need to ensure you have space to actually move them. Be sure to check with your removal company before committing, especially if you don’t have your own transport. You don’t want to be left without a plan for your plants on moving day.
Get Prepped
To give your plants the best chance of survival in your house move, you need to prepare them at least a week in advance.
Start by giving them a good watering and feed about 2 – 3 days before your moving day. This will give them a little boost before they endure a change of environment, and should keep them looking perky when they arrive. Unpacking your plants may not be high on your list when you arrive in your new property, so this will also give them an extra chance of survival.
If needed, give the plants a little trim to tidy them up and remove any dead leaves, but don’t be tempted to re-pot them until you have moved. Changes to environment can be stressful enough for plants, so wait until they’ve settled into their new home before re-potting.
Packing Your Plants
House plants come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, so you’ll need an array of boxes to accommodate them. Taped up the bottoms securely with packing tape and fill the boxes, squeezing in the smaller pots in amongst the medium pots so no space is wasted. Plants will still need plenty of light, so don’t be tempted to seal up the boxes. Add packing materials to any gaps to help prevent plants sliding about in the boxes.
If you have plants with sprawling leaves, try using cable ties to light bunch them together for the journey. It will also help to minimise damage and keep the plant more upright during transit.
If possible store your plants all together, and away from your other removal boxes. Plants can make the indoor air moist, so you’ll want to avoid having them close to any of your other cardboard moving boxes.
Moving Day
Ensure all you plants are placed in one area of the house so that they are not lost between the other moving boxes, and are out of the way of the removals team who will be busy packing and moving your boxes and furniture.
The ideal scenario is to move plants in your own car. Utilise every space you can in the vehicle; the boot, foot wells and rear seats. If you have a lots of plants, you could try folding the back-seat down so you can have a larger area.
Be sure to lay a protective plastic sheet or opened bin liner underneath in case of any water leakages.
Unpacking your House Plants
Ideally house plants should unpacked and as soon as you can after moving in. Place them on a windowsill where they’ll be perfectly happy whilst you sort out the rest of the unpacking.
They will also be fine to leave in their boxes for a day or two. Just ensure they are placed by a window so they have plenty of natural light, and give them some water if they look if they look like they need it. Droopy or dry leaves, or a pot that feels very light, are good indicators that they need a drink.
Have you been searching for a removal company to help you with your next house move?
Here at Casey’s Removals, we can make your life so much easier. Our moving service has helped customers throughout Greater London, Kent, and Surrey. We even offer a packing service to help you out!
Give us a call on 0208 659 6677 or email us at sales@caseysremovals.com to book your removal today – let’s get you in your new home.