No, we have not considered that. Our driveway is not installed yet, so we have to haul everything in by wheelbarrow 600+ ft. (Including plants and water for them). It would still take a lot of muscle for that idea. But, that was an interesting idea, for sure.

Beneath the grass, there is 18-24" of beautiful sandy loam. The gardens are going to be very happy there, once established!

This is a huge project and if you mean an acre of plants when you write "acre," you may need to adjust your expectations. I think Steve's idea is great, but to build a holding bed big enough for even half your plants at( 4 or 5 inches deep), you'll need a lot more than a yard of mixed soil. Google building Holding Bed ( or the professional landscapers forum) and learn how many inches deep it should be. My guess would be 5-6 inches deep. Then the contracter delivering the soil can figure out the yards.

Here are some quick thoughts about prioritizing your work:

1)Do you have to take every every single plant you have now ? Leave the most common ones. If you have multiples, take one or two and propogate. Leave anything that's already shown it is prone to disease, poor growth, or form or color you really don't like. Leave the ones that are likely not to make it unless they are babied. You might not have time to water daily, or even weekly. Some emergency make watering regularly difficult. Remember you have a house to make habitable and you may even have a "regular" job....or kids.....parents....a life!

.So prioritize what you must take: rare, sentimental, specimen., easily propogated

If your selling agreement says you have to take all the plants or it really annoys you knowing the new owners don't give a ___ and will let them die, put an ad for "free, dig your own" on freecycle, offer them to neighbors, garden club. All "dig your own" . Then grit teeth and walk away from the rest.

You are just creating a holding bed and goal is survival, not stellar growth of your plants. Reassess your new property. Is there a place in part shade accessible that the dump truck with loam can get access to now. Your right, you and your partner shouldn't be pushing scores of wheelbarrows of soil. Some things are worth the money when you don't have the time.

Maybe you have time to use roundup or a short life brush killer and wait the requisite time to plant . (not my first choice) Or if your dump has cardboard recycling dumpsters, you can score flattened moving boxes to use as a weed barrier. Lay that out and have the loam dumped on top. Or use newspaper. But honestly, if you have only a month and you have to pack up your house .....

[A frequent English poster on the perennials forum had to create large holding beds and acquired a lot of experience with keeping plants alive in tough conditions. Maybe you could cross post on that Forum and reach out to her. For the life of me, the name has slipped my mind....but it is not Flora. My memory or lack of it will drive me bonkers....]

Plant quick and dirty and close together. Label only what you won't remember. Close planting will help with weed control and water conservation.

Have a dry area and not so dry area for drought tolerant and no-so. You can water selectively.

Mulch...chips may be too coarse for some plants. Saltmarsh hay is pricey but goes a long way and will suit most plants, be inventive: rug pieces, thick newspaper, a mixture. Goal: survival not beauty

Water source? If just rain start collecting.

You can figure out how to retain the soil in your holding bed a little later: stones, branches, small tree trunks, weird stuff maybe big squares of kitchen floor tiles or leftover house shingles . Whatever will keep the soil from washing away. And of course, mulch.

I hope you'll keep us informed. You sound like you have a lot of energy but like everyone else, limited time. Try to use both wisely and keep your dreams of your new gardens alive.

Marie

Are you potting up the plants you are moving? No reason they can't live in pots for awhile - even over the winter if you do it correctly. What zone are you in?

And there may be no need to rototill, especially in areas that you say are just grass. I'm a big proponent of no-till, although in some of the rougher areas it sounds like you have some heavy-duty clearing to do.

diggerdee, I have not been potting up the plants I am moving. I use the "kiddie pool method." I dig up a large area of plants, fill the bottom of a kiddie pool full of water, and let the plants soak in there until I'm ready to replants them. I have had plants live this way upward of 2 weeks. The kiddie pools only cost $5, so it's not a huge expensive to have 4 or 5 of these. You can hold a few hundred plants this way if you place them carefully in each pool.

I spent last week brush hogging the property. There have been a few people in and out of the property since I have done so (prior owner and someone to do the soils test for septic) and told my husband they were amazed his wife did the amount of work I did - and with just a walk behind brush hog.

I live in zone 5a, in Southern Maine. I'm an old farm gal, so hard work doesn't scare me. And, I'm a teacher, so I have some time this summer to dedicate to this task. We spoke with a realtor tonight (we were trying to sell our home by owner), and he has suggested I remove most of my landscape because he is afraid there are too many people who will look at the amount of plants I have and not want to even think about the amount of time it would take to maintain the upkeep.

I am thinking of starting a daylily farm on my new homestead within the next two or so years, so, yes, I would like to take as much landscape from my existing house to the new property, so as to cut down on start up expenses.

We are thinking of renting a tractor with rototiller, or bobcat, bulldozer.. something to help take down the remainder of the raspberry bushes, and make it easier for me to create more garden space. I understand if we don't rent a tiller, I will have to use my smaller tiller to do that part of the job, but would some of the other equipment make that task easier by removing the grass/top soil layer first?

Ah, okay, so you will need to get the plants into soil somehow. Hmm, I still like Steve's idea of a large raised holding bed. This will be quick and you don't really have to think about planning, layout, etc., as it is just a temporary home. I guess the downside to this is having to haul everything in.

I'm not trying to be nosy, but just trying to visualize the situation - are you saying that as of now your new property is just that - property? Are you not actually living there at the moment? Is there a house on the property? I ask because it doesn't sound like there is, and maybe you are living elsewhere temporarily? If that is the case, can you bring the plants to this place temporarily as well?

If I am mistaken, and there is a house on the property that you are living in, is your new house also 600' in, and how are you getting things there? Again, I'm just trying to visualize what's going on to see if I can come up with any helpful ideas. :)

It is just that - 7 acres of old pastureland. I bush hogged a way in last week. The path in is now somewhat passable, although my 4x4 vehicle got stuck getting in today, so I won't be trying again until we get some fill in the entryway. There is no house yet, water, electricity, anything. We just finalized the deal last week.

We will have to rent until we are able to build. In order to afford the infrastructure (gravel for driveway, power, well, septic, house), we will have to wait until our current home sells. We can't carry two mortgages.

There will be a 600 ft driveway from the main road in to the house. The house will be on a small knoll, and I am rototilling down the hill, away from where the house construction will be taking place. I will try to upload a few photos in the morning to show you the layout

this is the space I'm using for my plants

this is one of the photos showing what much of the front of the property looks like now that I have brush hogged....... this will eventually be part of the driveway

another view of where I'm trying to rototill. This is a panoramic photo, so click on the pic so you can see the entire thing

Okay, so I guess it would be too much work - and maybe you wouldn't have enough room - to pot up everything and bring it to your rental? Can you clear a space closer to the front of the property for now (maybe 50 feet in or so), make a raised bed, and put everything there? That way things will be in the ground, and you can move them to their permanent homes as you clear the space.

Looks like some beautiful property. That last photo makes me tired just looking at it if I were to rototill it, lol! Again, since it is cleard of much of the brush, I would look into other options for planting besides rototill. Might save you work in the short term AND the long term (future weeds) and could be better for the health of the soil.

Congratulations, and good luck! Please keep us posted as to your progress!

What a project! I did a quick move but not with so many plants. When you do the site plan and garden layout, I highly recommend you locate a yard pump convenient to the garden. It can be used year round but water pipe has to be buried in a trench. Our was put in after the fact but my husband could dig the trench. Much more convenient that dragging a long hose from house to garden.

Any chance you have a neighbor with a backhoe you could hire (might be a lot less than hiring a commercial contractor) to dig a holding trench for you? Craigslist is a good source for free manure or inexpensive pay to load your utility trailer with aged manure. I agree a space close to front of property would make best sense. I use lasagna style beds on top of old sod (we also have thick old pasture) to make beds starting with layers of wet newspaper (but cardboard is also good) and then alternate layers of green and brown. Best beds are usually done a year ahead but a quick bed can be done with straw and composted manure.

Best wishes on your new home.

I'm new here but your project reminding me so much of a story I read recently I had to share. Nancy Ondra, who is a wonderful gardener and writer shares her story on a blog called Hayestack. She bought a 5 acre piece of land and gradually built home and professional gardens. If you search her blog (I'm not sure how to add a link) for holding bed you will find the story of how she built one before she did anything else and how successful it was for her.

She put it out by the road to keep it out of the way of construction. In time she dismantled it but I could imagine you keeping it and gradually filling with daylilies as you moved other things out! It would be a great welcome for your farm.

Sorry, her blog is Hayefield!

The link is

Hayefield

Claire