Transplanting and/or plant storage

[shashafrash]

We are in the process of putting our house on the market, and there is a very good chance (we hope!) that we will sell before Christmas. There is also a chance, though slim, that we will not be moving right away into a new house. I have a lilac bush that I transplanted from my Grandmother's house when we moved in 6 years ago that I desperately want

Comments

[dickgloucester]

I can't offer plant advice, but don't forget to advise whoever buys the house that you are taking these plants with you, otherwise you might get in trouble.

[fallconsmate]

this is JUST what i was about to say.

i know one of the reasons we chose this house was the lemon tree in the back...if that tree had disappeared between us putting in an offer and closing? we'd have backed out immediately.

[shashafrash]

We made sure our realtor know our plans :)

[oxymoron02]

Your realtor can know your plan, but make sure that any contract you sign with a buyer *explicitly* states that the plants are coming with you. Since they are technically part of the land, unless their removal is *explicitly* stated in your contract, you'll be in breach if you remove them without it being in the contract.

I had a law prof once who told me she pulled up her rose bushes and potted them up before even listing her house, so that there was no reasonable expectation that they'd be left and no chance that she'd accidentally fail to include it in the contract.

[shashafrash]

I'd be agreeable to digging up what I want to keep now, except I'm not sure how well the lilac would fare.

[virginiadear]

Lilacs are usually tougher than old boots, so you should be able to prune it back hard, and then dig it up and "ball and burlap" it. Just remember that although you might not want to grow your shrubs in clay soil (lilacs do very well here where the soil tends to be clay), you do want to pack the roots in clay precisely because it holds moisture for so long.
There are cases of people having cut their old, large lilacs down to stumps, then digging them up and relocating them; although it did take the lilacs a while to regain their former size, they survived and, when the new growth was old enough, bloomed again

[shashafrash]

Thank you for the advice!

[virginiadear]

Took the words right out of my mouth, and made them so eloquently succinct! :^)