Boy, Moni, I was wondering the same thing a few weeks back, just an "what if". I think I would put in the K (contract) and then you'd have at least a month to dig and replace soil.

BTW, glad you're moving to OKC, altho you're probably not too happy about it. Tulsa is a great city.

Susan

I would dig the plants before the house shows.

When we sold our house in Bartlesville, our buyers had their own realtor who was a hateful person. They had a full inspection made after we accepted their offer, and then after the closing they discovered a crack in the corner of one of the windows and we had to pay them $200 to replace the window because we hadn't thought to disclose it. They also saw an antenna in the attic and we didn't make a point of saying it was not staying, so we had to give them the antenna later on, too. It was such a bad experience for us to deal with this young couple and their ugly realtor. They also found problems with the fireplace and were told it would cost a couple of thousand to fix it. The only reason they didn't come back on us for that was that we told them we hadn't used the fireplace in years and couldn't vouch for it's usability and their inspection team failed to inspect it. They were wasting too much time taking our kitchen range apart, which we'd already put in the contract wasn't going to stay anyway. If you don't want to feel violated, don't stay home during one of those inspections.

I would also suggest digging up all the plants now, that you don't want to leave behind, and fill the holes with mulch or soil or annuals the fill the empty spaces. Tell them that you are taking them with you when you move.
When we sold our house, the new owners put in the contract that they wanted all the landscaping left in it's present state. I had never thought it would be of any importance to anybody looking at the house so I didn't remove anything before putting the house up for sale. When I went back later in the year, they had placed statue's over lilies, the yard was very over grown, they had big dogs in the backyard( I couldn't bear to peek and see what happened to the plants) and I was very sick over the fact that I should have taken everything with me and I didn't. They never would have noticed the empty spaces since they were young and not gardeners.

Terrydenise, that's why I've always heard that when you move to a new house, you should always wait out one spring, summer, and autumn, just to see what is planted, before digging and planting your own plants. I started out very small, and discovered there were lots of plants in my yard that I had no idea existed until they came up the following spring. Then, I took out the ones I didn't like (cannas; I mean a whole side of the house was nothin but red and yellow cannas). I had azaleas and hydrangeas and clematis, things I had no clue were in the garden until they bloomed the following year.

I keep thinking I need to do a landscaping map of my yard because I have so many rare and unusual plants that if someone else doesn't want, or doesn't know they exist, could destroy. And if they don't, I could have a garden party before they took over, and everyone could dig what they wanted.

Susan

I agree with all of you- it's best to dig out what you want now. Most people expect the house to look the same as when they make an offer, and good landscaping is usually a big plus when selling the home. In fact, the last home we sold was a great old farmhouse on 2 acres that had been completely restored, but no landscaping to speak of. It didn't sell right away, and we weren't sure if we wanted to sell after all, so we took it off the market. Then, a few months later, we decided selling was our best option, but we decided to divide the property and keep 1 acre; this time, we worked for a solid month and landscaped extensively. We sold it for more than the original price with the 2 acres, and a lot of it was due to the landscape! When it came time to accept an offer, we stipulated that all the pots and statuary went with us, but I am sure the people would have taken exception if we had said we were going to dig up some of the bedding plants, etc.

I hope your home sells quickly for you! Selling is no fun at all, and buying isn't much better!

~ Ada

Well, most of what I want to take along is living in pots now. Sitting on the north side of a privacy fence, in shade. So far, all look really good.

I actually sprigged some bermuda in what used to be a flower area. I think, scaling back my yard, and letting some revert to grass would make people less intimidated about "how much work this yard would be".

Talked with a Realtor, and all is starting to happen.

Moni

Moni,

Good luck with the selling of your current home and then finding a new one in the OKC area. Keep us posted on how it goes.

Dawn