Why would you want to lift them? Are you zone 3? Does it not look like they'd make it through the winter up there?
Unless you are growing things that are not hardy for your zone, the best place for them is in the ground.

You could just topdress them with lots of compost now and water them well to get them in shape for the winter. (And you'll be amazed how adding compost now will help to improve things) Wait until spring to lift them out, park them in the shade for a day or so while you amend the soil and then replant.
I don't see how potting them up will be better for them and you certainly don't want to place them in better, richer soil just when they are supposed to go dormant.

Taking them indoors, even in a cold, dark place, could be a major pain. They could dry out too much, or start growing when they shouldn't. I tried to keep a little shrub (just a few twigs, really) over the winter and put it under a staircase in the basement. It put out a single branch, like a long feeler, trying to reach for what little light it could find. Poor thing. Never made it.

I agree your survival rate will be far greater if you just leave them where theya re.
And I also am a huge fan...NOT! of lifting plants and amending the soil. Leave the plants and add your amendments to the top and allow your soil organisms to do the rest.. To get things moving fast try piling all your leaves, chopped first ( use a lawn mower or as tring trimmer in a round barrel like a stick blender) and then sprinkle on a very light top coating of bagged composted manure.
By June first you will have mostly composted leaves and the worms will have begun their task....
Repeat for as many years as it takes for you to be satisfied with your soil.
Linda C

I see you're in Canada; are you experiencing the same drought conditions we are here in Minnesota (and many other areas)? That may be a bigger factor at the moment than your soil conditions.

Your perennials have an infinitely better chance of survival in the ground than they would potted up in cold storage. As recommended, a top dress of compost this fall would be helpful to get your spring redoing of the beds underway. Perennials are pretty tough, and the survival rate is high if we're lucky enough to get a good insulating snow cover. It'll be so much simpler to lift and replant in the spring once your beds have been raised and amended.

Yes, would be too much work to lift and store all your plants in a cold room ... just leave them where they're at and come spring, lift and do your soil amending. I think applying soil amendments to the surface is an okay thing ... BUT, to really enrich your soil, I'd recommend you dig in lots of peat moss, compost and well rotted manure ... then step back and watch those perennials perform!

Terry

Hi Missti,

You have quite a project ahead of you. In my experience, at a previous home, I would have been better off removing the old soil and replacing it right off. Instead, I "improved" the soil for about 15 years, and it probably still was not as good as the soil I have at my current home. I had access to tons of compost (had horses, etc), grass clippings, and leaves, but the soil was such a dense clay, it just seemed to absorb anything I added. If I move again, I will just buy and replace the garden soil. I still add compost and grass clippings every year and I think that is something that is always advised.

As far as your perennials go, in our cold zone 3, your plants will be better off in the ground for the winter (with mulch). If, for some reason, you think you really need to pot them up and are willing to risk possible loss, you might try: Pot up in early September and keep well watered until truly dormant, and then keep moist until freeze up. I would put all the pots together and bury them under several feet of mulch--straw would probably be the best. Put something over them to hold the straw down (perhaps some nettings or fence,) but I don't think I would use anything like black plastic that could heat up and smother. Even better would be to sink the pots up to their rims in the ground and then bury with straw. As a caution, I have not had the best luck with transplanting or planting in the fall, as some books and magazines suggest. I think our fall just gets too cold too fast. Last year, I did transplant some hostas in early September with very good results (and you know that last winter was BAD). Good luck to you. I hope you will post on how it goes.