How to Move With Houseplants
When it comes to moving house, there’s a lot to consider. Moving day itself can be extremely stressful as you handle any last-minute packing, coordinate your moving team and make sure you haven’t left anything behind.
If you have children and/or pets to take care of, too, then the experience can be even more overwhelming.
With this in mind, your houseplants may become neglected amongst the general moving day chaos.
However, it’s important that you know how to properly move houses with plants, or they may not last the journey. You want them to thrive in their new environment, especially when you’ve dedicated so much time to keeping them alive, so the team here at Britannia Sandersteads have put together top tips on moving house with plants.
Tend to them before leaving
Before the move, it’s important to spend some time tending to your houseplants. Give them a thorough watering and feeding a few days before the move to ensure they’re in peak condition for the journey. You may also want to change their soil, especially if you’re making a big move where they’re going to find themselves in a slightly different climate. If not, then you can keep the soil the same.
It’s always worthwhile to conduct a little pruning and trimming of their leaves before the move, too.
Typically, your houseplants won’t be moved much in their life, so it’s important to give them a bit of a spruce up prior.
Pack them properly
Next comes the packing. This is perhaps the most arduous part of the moving process, and the same goes for packing up your houseplants. The first thing to consider is the type of packaging you’re looking to transport the plants in.
Many households have plants in a wide range of sizes from small succulents to massive Monsteras. You can use normal cardboard packing boxes, especially for small to medium sized plants, but it’s a good idea to line the box with plastic sheets. This way, any moisture from the plant pots will not dampen and weaken the box during the journey. You can fit several smaller plants in the same box, but make sure to place newspaper between the different pots to stop them banging into one another en route.
Larger plants can go in boxes too, but for all sizes don’t completely shut the lid of the boxes. You don’t want them to remain in complete darkness for long, so tuck the lids inside the box instead.
If you have heavy terracotta pots, then you might want to consider moving them to lighter, plastic alternatives so they’re easier to carry once you arrive.
Include labels on boxes and pots so you can easily identify which plants are where. This will be particularly important if you own a large number of houseplants.
Store safely
It’s always important to store your plants safely during the journey. We’d recommend that they’re the last thing you put in your removal van. After all, plants are living things so you don’t want them shoved in the back of the van surrounded by clutter. This also means they’ll be one of the first things you unload from the van, minimising the length of time they spend in confined conditions.
Additionally, talk with your removals company and let them know they have precious cargo on board. This way, they’ll be aware of the need to handle them carefully and store them appropriately.
Sometimes, removal companies will refuse to transport plants. While this is not the case with Brittania Sandersteads, if you do prefer to transport them yourself, always have them in the vehicle itself and never in the boot. You can then make use of seatbelts to keep them secure on the journey.
Look after them during the move
If the journey to your new home is particularly long, you should check on your plants midway through the journey if possible.
If it’s a hot day you may want to give them some water and make sure they’re in a shady part of the van or removal vehicle. Usually, these vehicles do not have windows, but if they do, or if you’re driving them in your own car, make sure they’re kept in a shady area. While sunlight is not a problem, spending a long time exposed to the heat could be.
Conversely, when travelling in the cold, place plants near a window if possible. Again, stopping to give them a little water can help as soil can maintain heat much better when it’s wet.
Tend to do them as soon as you arrive
As soon as you arrive at your new home, make unpacking your plants a priority. Unpack and water them as soon as you can, if they’re looking particularly droopy then this is an indication they’re a bit thirsty.
Plants aren’t typically keen on being relocated, which is why it’s important to get them accustomed to their new surroundings as quickly as you can. You may notice them losing their leaves or wilting slightly in the days after the move, but don’t panic. This is a fairly normal response and is unlikely to last very long.
Here at Britannia Sandersteads, we offer a whole host of packing services to customers across London, Croydon and Surrey. Our team are experts in kinds of packing, including how to pack house plants. We provide a professional packing offering that can be included when you make use of our services. But, if you want to pack yourself then we can provide all of the relevant packing materials to make the process as straightforward as possible. To learn more about our comprehensive packing service, get in touch with the team today.