Moving, and I want to take them with me

We are moving, almost 800 miles from where we live in Louisiana to coastal Georgia (St. Simon's Island). I have several lovely JM's that I have no problem leaving to the new owners, but.....The new owner is a relocation company, who will pay someone to clean the pool and cut the grass, but not much else. And, without at least a little TLC (and water) those JM's will be dead soon. I want to dig up some of my more important ones, bring them with us on the move in 3 weeks, and then baby them while they are in the pots (at least 6 months) while we are building our new house. Then, they will go back into the ground, and become happy once more. Any suggestions? I know it's kinda late, but we didn't know that relo would end up with the house. I didn't want to pull them out if there would be new owners to care for them. Help!

sounds like you have nothing to lose - i would just dig them up and put them in containers - you will probably have to trim some roots - then just watch them closely - i have moved many maples here, they can be tougher than you think.

The one thing I'd caution you about is the legality of doing that. I know that in California (and I assume other states) when you sell your house you are selling your landscape too. So uprooting trees or plants and taking them with you without permission from the new owner is essentially stealing since, at least in theory, the new owner took the landscaping into account when they made the offer to buy.

all you need to do is ask the new guy if you can take them. He may not care. Really it sounds like a ton of fuss and work, and I would just let it go myself.
get more to plant when you are ready for them.

gsox you are correct - folks we bought our home from took plants and i was none to pleased - they moved to atlanta and we did not know exactly what was taken only the holes in the ground to prove something was gone.

wow didn't even fill the holes.

how lazy is that.

Yep, when I took plants at least I either replaced them with cheapos or covered the spot with fresh mulch.
I had them tagged as "taking with me" when the house was for sale, though.
I made it pretty clear that some things were not included in the sale.

Generally speaking when you buy a house you are suppose to do a walk thru and around the morning of the closing. Anything not copacetic that is not in your contract, can stop the sale or you can be compensated at closing for it .. if you decide it is not worth it then you have nothing to whine about ... If you use a Realtor they should do this but remember most work for the seller and not buyer they are NOT YOUR FRIENDS although most buyers think they are.. and most are just plain lazy since they have had it so good for so long ti very recently. They have made allotg of money charging really big commissions for doing little more than a used car salesman does. I think you should think of them as used car salesman aka used house salesman. There are always exceptions but this is what I have seen over the years .. loving your Realtor is a recipe for a hosing on your house purchase. I do apologize for any Realtor reading this that is offended you may be in the exception. But any Realtor that doesn't demand a walk thru and council you on getting compensated for THEFT of trees or other items not explicitly stated in your contract is not your friend. But then they are working for the seller unless they are explicitly buyer brokers and not just plain brokers or even worse duel agency brokers who totally muddy the waters of who they owe their allegiance to. Again I am not making blanket statements there are exceptions but I'd bet "most" of the ones you guys use are NOT Davidsan

This message was edited May 13, 2010 8:51 AM

The thing is, no one is buying our house. The relocation company is buying it from us, and who knows how long it will be before someone moves in. I'd hate to leave them here for them to die anyway. And I'm not leaving the water on, and it's been really dry for us lately. I'd sure rather take them with me than for them to sit here and die, with no one to watch them. Many of them are in places that they don't really leave an empty space. (I have a tendency to plant heavily). We haven't even had anyone look at our house. But if someone was moving in right away, I'd be happy to leave them here.

i would take them in a heart beat - just let the relo company know.

In that case I would agree with Bill the relo co. would never know the difference or care I thought it being sold to an individual or you had folks looking while you were still there.. I'd dig them up and pot them before you move so if someone does look they don't feel cheated if they buy and you don't have more problems.. If you have already moved it probably isn't proper.Davidsan