If you guys have read this old post, you already know half of this story. For the rest of you, here we go. Way back in 2007, right before we got married – and before we even started this blog – my parents gave us a tiny Japanese maple. It was a little 24″ offshoot that had started growing near the large maple in their backyard. We planted the tiny little thing in our backyard, said a few plant prayers for it, and it grew a smidge in the 3+ years it lived there… though we don’t really have any photographic evidence of it.
Since it was meaningful to us – having some wedding significance and having come from my childhood home – we dug it up before selling that house and brought it with us when we moved to our second house. Perhaps you’re starting to see where this story is going.
Since our last move took place in the winter, we were almost certain that our transplantation efforts killed it. But much to our surprise, it survived…
… and even managed to grow a bit bigger, although you never really noticed it in photos because it got lost amongst some other purple bushes that grew in around it.
Since our last move, my parents have moved out of my childhood home making this little tree even more special to us. So of course we had to dig it up and bring it with us again, even if it’s not as little now. Note: dig up your plant before you put your house on the market since anything in the ground during showings is expected to convey unless you indicate that it’s coming with you in the contract.
Digging it up was pretty easy. I made a wide hole around it and then gently lifted and wiggled until it came loose. The root ball seemed to be pretty small, so I was able to fit it into a plastic bin that I had handy. It had become a bit heavier since its last move, which is how Sherry captured this not-so-flattering shot of me hoisting it up while getting a leaf to the eye.
We decided to move it over to the new house as soon as we dug it up – just so it wasn’t in the way during showings. It barely fit in our car, but barely works just fine for us. Even if it means Sherry has to ride in the backseat with maple leaves up her nose. We secretly wondered if other drivers would think we were cruising around with a giant marijuana plant in our car, just begging to be arrested. But no one stopped us. We’re not sure if we’re relieved or concerned.
It sat in our new backyard for a while (through showings and moving and us getting settled for a few weeks) and then we buckled down and said “we have to get this thing in the ground before we kill it” (we had drilled a few holes in the bottom of the bin for drainage but knew it wasn’t going to thrive in there forever). Finding a new spot for it was a little challenging because there are still so many question marks about our landscaping, but we decided this spot on the periphery of the woods that surround our deck is a safe bet. That way it’s visible from the house and has plenty of room to grow (unlike last time).
Now we just have to cross our fingers that transplanting it in the heat of summer didn’t kill it. We used some compost and some garden soil when we planted it – just to give it the best shot we could – and thanks to lots of rain lately, it seems to be doing ok so far.
Actually, our main worry has been the deer. Of which (if you’ve been following our Instagram) we see lots of lately. We know they like to eat some low-lying shrubs, but so far our maple seems unappetizing. I even caught this one giving it a sniff and then wandering off. Move along, little buddy. Move along.
Anyone else have success (or failures) transplanting things? Or do you have any sentimental items (flora or otherwise) that have made a few moves with you? We can’t believe this maple is now living in its 4th yard, counting my parents’ place where it was “born.” They grow up so fast. Single tear.
Jenn says
I work for a nursery / landscaper in Tennessee and just want to warn you – deer may not eat the leaves but they will rub on the trunk and cause scaring. I may suggest getting some tree guards for your leafy baby.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Jenn!
xo
s
.ivy says
For the deer? Loosely tie a helium-filled mylar balloon to the tree. It won’t hurt it, and apparently deer stay away from them. (I know this sounds insane; it’s my grandma’s trick!) Good luck!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the tip Ivy!
xo
s
Lauren says
That’s really awesome you’ve been bringing the tree from home to home. love it!
Heather says
I bought a very tiny Japanese Maple, (since larger ones were out of my budget at the time), when my now nine-year-old daughter was one. Due to chaotic life circumstances, (and her small stature), my little tree lived in several containers, (and was a beautiful container plant), over 7 years to avoid being transplanted during our moves. One year ago we bought what we plan to be our forever home, and our beautiful tree is now in the ground. She is stunning! So happy I kept my $20 tree alive for so long. My kids call it “their tree.” I love having plants that have a family history. We even planted a new dogwood to mark the beginning of life in our new home last year.
YoungHouseLove says
So. Sweet.
xo
s
Rachel @ My Urban Oven says
Love this! Love the photo of the leaves in the eye too! I just bought my first home, and asked my mom to bring me some plants from her garden. I love the idea of bringing them from house to house. I will be interested to see if this leafy guy will make it to your next home when that happens :)
Jill says
Sprinkling a little blood meal around your tree is a natural way to repel the deer (they don’t like the smell) and fertilize the tree at the same time! Love me some maples!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the tip Jill!
xo
s
alison says
Love this!
We planted a Japanese maple at our first house. We even have photos of our son sitting under the tree. It was the only plant that I would have loved to take with us when we moved. Can’t really imagine how that would have went with the 2000+ car ride to our new home!
Lynn @ Our Useful Hands says
I bought some plants from our local Home Depot and one of them bloomed once and then looked like it died. I didn’t have time for about a month to dig it up and whoa and behold it started back up again. My pride and joy planting so far has to be hands down my desert rose. If we ever sell this house and move back to NY (still homesick 6 years later) that baby is definitely coming with us! It’s gorgeous when in bloom and takes almost no care whatsoever.
My best, Lynn
*When I go into a nursery the first thing I say is “Point me in the direction of the lowest maintenance but pretty stuff ya got. Cause aint nobody got time for that!”
YoungHouseLove says
Haha! I’ll have to borrow that quote.
xo
s
maureen says
My husband split a peonie plant from his parents house in Ct. close to 40 years ago. It has lived in Arlington, Fairfax, & now resides in the Fairfax-Burke hood. Still blooms like crazy every year. The plant that he split is also still blooming, so we figure the plant has to be over 65 years old. We did the same thing when selling our house in Fairfax, dug it up potted it and took it with us. The funny thing, we drive by the “old” house & the plant we put there, a hibiscus is thriving. :)
denise says
I love that you moved the tree with you from house to house! Japanese maples are such a nice tree to have and this one is much better since it has meaning to you.
Speaking of deer…a small tree along the treeline of our woods was recently brought low following way too much rain. We think it was already sort of top heavy with leaves for the small trunk and the beating from the rain and the loosened soil were just too much for it. Apparently, this particular tree (lots of green leaves and some little berries) is irresistible to the deer! They have been flocking to it, even bringing their tiny fawn to munch away. Of course, this has caused considerable agitation in our dog! He spends hours watching for the deer out the window. And the desire for the tree has made the deer very bold! They wait to run off until the dog is charging them and only a few feet away! Very entertaining.
Gabbi @ Retro Ranch Reno says
Kuddos to you guys for keeping this little guy through all your homes! I’m sure I would have killed it from the get go. I hope it thrives in it’s new home, and the deer keep their paws, errrr, hooves off of it! ;)
Katherine says
I feel like I could have written this story, two Japanese maples and two houses later. I truly believe there is more to moving certain items from home to home than just the right elements of planting. It’s meant to be there with you!
The deer is so beautiful, but if you want to keep deer or rabbits from eating your plants trying planting something from the onion plant family near by. The prettiest thing to plant is allium (tulip like stems with a single pretty purple flowering ball}. They look great layered with tulips around them because they are just a bit taller than tulips.
Put the bulbs in a paper bag with moth balls for a few days before planting so the squirrels don’t dig them up. The bulbs absorb the odor of the mothballs. You can also put crushed mothballs (crush them in a plastic bag using a rubber mallet} sprinkled in the soil that covers the bulbs.
It really is ‘home’ now with your family tree settling in.
YoungHouseLove says
Love the tips Katherine!
xo
s
Katie says
My grandma still lives on the farm where her parents moved to after arriving from sweden. She grew up there. My dad and his brothers grew up there. This is our second home that we’ve owned and we always make the 3 hour drive and grab a bunch of trees to plant in our yard from her home. We’ve never transplanted the plants, but my grandma is 93 years old and if we move sometime after she passes away, I bet we’ll be transplanting some of these trees. Probably not all 10 of them, but a couple at least. It’s really special knowing where the trees are from!
Whitney says
What a great story! I love how sentimental you guys are. I would love to do this if we ever decide to move from our current house.
Amber Lee D. says
We brought a Japanese Maple from our first house to our second house.
Although we verbally disclosed this to the new owners, it did cause a bit of a problem, as they seemed to forget that the tree was not included with the sale.
We ended up having to buy a replacement tree for them.
My advise is to put it on paper any plants that will not be staying or take it off property before the house is on the market!
Good news, the tree has flourished over the past 11 years and is a beautiful focal point in our garden.
Mel says
Three years ago for valentines day my dad sent me a little tea rose, you know, the kind you get from a florist in a 6″ plastic pot?
I live in a small one bedroom apartment with no balcony, but I’ve transplanted that rose twice! He (yes, he) now lives comfortably in my living room next to a big picture window in a 2′ pot. He’s about 7′ tall and still gives me roses regularly!
No green thumb here, so it’s got to be some sort of rose-miracle-juju. (Or just all of my dad’s good faith that I could keep it alive, ha!) One day I’ll have a yard to plant him in :)
Krissy says
My niece’s middle name is Rose, and my sister has a rose bush from our grandmother’s garden growing in the backyard for her :)
I had a purple passion plant and my fiance’s grandmother loved it, so I gave her a clipping from it and it grew into a beautiful plant. Mine, sadly, died after I clipped it (think I clipped it wrong?). After she got really sick, my mom came up and clipped a piece off of her healthy plant (the right way) for me. Now I have a piece of her plant, which was a piece of my plant, growing in our house and my fiance’s grandfather is still taking care of her plant.
Janina says
My husband planted apple trees in our yard for each child ( a house, a son, an apple tree:mission accomplished).. I wonder if you can dig them up later, since they getting big??
Bonnie says
We took a maple tree through yards of three houses, before finally planting it in the front yard (so we could always come visit) of my high-school era house. Now it’s over 40 feet tall!
Caroline W says
I planted a rose last year to commemorate my grandfather, who had passed along the month before. My little brother (who’s ten…and very much a late in life baby) even helped me, so it made it all the more meaningful. Since it is in a pot (we rent) it will make the transition to our next home. Hopefully, one of these days I will be able to plant it in the ground once we buy.
Sara says
When my mother-in-law passed away, my parents sent a gardenia to the funeral. We planted it in a large planter at the old house because we knew we’d be moving. Fast forward to this house and it’s planted in the ground and very unhappy about the whole thing. One lonely blossom this summer. Crossing my fingers for next year!
Julia @ Hooked on Houses says
Love this!
We have some black raspberry bushes we’re sentimental about because they originated on my husband’s grandparents’ farm. His parents took cuttings of them with them to two of their houses over the years and then gave some to us last year.
They took over our garden, so we had to give them an entire raised bed of their own this summer. So far they seem to love their new space.
Crossing my fingers for you that your maple thrives, too! :)
Emily says
Definitely get some liquid fence. It smells terrible but it keeps the deer away. When my grandma passed away last year, we split up her peonies plant and moved it into the yard at our new house. I was afraid it wouldn’t make it but this year there was one single pink flower. ??
YoungHouseLove says
So sweet! Love all the stories everyone!
xo
s
MrsB says
You might look into some watering bags. They are 20 gallon bags that seep water into planting area. They work!
I saved a transplanted tree with one.
http://www.homegardeningproducts.com/Treegator-Original-Slow-Release-Watering-Bag-98183-R_p_3.html
YoungHouseLove says
Great tip!
xo
s
Bonnie Morscher says
Have you ever heard of Milorganite? It’s an organic fertilizer made right here in Milwaukee and besides giving your little tree a nice feeding, it will likely keep the deer away.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the tip Bonnie!
xo
s
Kimberly says
our HOA landscapers transplanted some plants when they were FINALLY redoing our front landscaping (it’s a new build, so the neighborhood is rather… fluid). they didn’t move them far enough for us to notice that they’d been moved at all, so we didn’t notice that we needed to be extra diligent in watering until one of the plants was practically dead! so sad. still fighting with getting the rest to survive… we have another one that looks like it might not survive that i’ve tried trimming back so that there’s less to feed. it’s been a trial! 100+ degree heat index isn’t helpful, i’m sure.
Caroline says
I love this!! Plants can be such sentimental things. I have a perennial bed in our backyard that is very special to me. It holds peonies from my mom’s yard, lilly of the valley from my grandmother’s yard, and lenten roses that were originally planted at my great-grandmother’s house (then my parents transplanted them). This spring, the lilly of the valley bloomed for the first time since we moved it, and my heart about burst it was so full!! I absolutely plan to take these with us if/when we move.
Amanda says
When my boyfriend and I bought our first house 3 years ago, his grandmother gave us a baby spider plant that had been cut from one of hers that she’d had since he was born! Over the past few years it’s grown, almost died (I’m no longer in charge of keeping the plants alive…), and grown some more.
We’ve since transplanted it to a larger hanging pot and it proudly hangs on the side of our carport. We’ve even cut some more babies off of it to grow our spider plant army, muahaha.
John says
My parents planted a Japanese Maple in 1962 when we moved to a new split-level house in Fairfax. Forty-seven years later when we sold the house, the tree was 20′ feet tall, to big to move. Planted a new maple in my yard as a reminder of the fond memories.
Kirstin says
So cute!
When I was a kid, I grew a maple tree from a seed as a science experiment. It started out in a margarine container and moved from Wisconsin to Iowa with our family. It later moved to a larger pot, and then was eventually planted in the backyard and was there for years. Unfortunately a storm eventually split the tree. But it is still definitely a fond memory.
Corinne says
Back in July 2011, I was visiting my parents and was offered the chance to take home a bunch of mimosa tree offshoots. The morning I got ready to leave, my step-dad and I headed out to the side yard of their crazy house and dug up five itty bitty, two-inch tall offshoots. I honestly thought those things were weeds! I drove all the way from Maryland to central Ohio with those things sitting in the front seat in a stinky box. As soon as I got home I had to start planting them. Two of the little trees didn’t survive the trip home (the dirt and root balls fell apart), but the other three I planted immediately. I was worried because the ground was so dry but made sure to use good mulch and water the trees every day. Everything was fine for the first week or so….then I mowed the lawn (bet you can tell where this is going). Yep, I completely mowed over two out of three trees! One was totally obliterated. The other managed to rejuvenate itself, but then I mowed over it a second time a few weeks later!
The third tree was never accidentally mowed over, but I thought I’d killed it this past winter. Turns out that my ground hog liked to munch on the fresh leafy growth, leaving only the twigs/trunk behind. I put up a little bit of chicken wire and haven’t had any issues since. In fact, the twig areas are still there, but there are also big, 18-inch leafy branches coming off of those now!
YoungHouseLove says
Oh no! A comedy of tree errors.
xo
s
Heather @ Barefoot Crafts says
My husband planted an avocado seed nearly three years ago and now it’s almost 5 feet tall. Too bad it takes 14 years to bear fruit. He has a major green thumb so I have no doubt we’ll be enjoying guacamole on our 10 year anniversary :-)
YoungHouseLove says
So sweet.
xo
s
Mary Anne says
How great that you were able to move the Japanese maple to your new home! If you find that the deer DO decide that the Japanese Maple is just the thing for a great meal, try spraying it with a product called “Deer Out.” I’ve tried to put in plants and flowers that the deer don’t care for, but am not always successful. “Deer Out” REALLY works. AND it has a great “minty” smell which is so much better than the rotten egg smell of so many of the other deer repellents. Hmmm . . . I just reread this . . .I sound like a commercial for the product . . . Do give it a try if you start to see some deer activity. Watch it especially in the spring when the tender leaves come out. Apparently they are more tasty!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the tip Mary Anne!
xo
s
Jessica says
LOVE. This story. I think this is so sweet, and glad it fit in the car!! We have a similar story – my great grandpa planted rubarb in my grandparents yard in the 1950s (which was actually from my great great uncles yard)… And my parents got an offshoot when they moved to my childhood home. And so the plant is about 60 years old, and ill take an offshoot when I move into my home! Kind of confusing but really sweet story.
Barbara says
We are in the process of selling our house to a builder. It is a cute race but will be donated and moved to make room for a starter mansion. Part of our agreement is that we can take any of the plants we want. Yay! I have 14 varieties of hydrangeas alone. I don’t have a green thumb, just good dirt. :)
At our new house there is a gorgeous fully grown Japanese maple that we are going to have to move in order to make room for the addition we are planning. I hope that the transplant gods smile upon us all!!
Barbara says
Oops…. Ranch not race!
karla says
Actually, the best time to transplant small trees is in the winter while it is dormant. this time, it’s going to need some tender loving care.
Water, Water, Water…
YoungHouseLove says
Will do!
xo
s
Jessica says
My husband and I watered a maple tree during our wedding ceremony this past October to symbolize our growing relationship. On our way from the ceremony site back to my mom’s house with the tree in tow, we DID have a random neighboring car ask us “where’s the party at?!” I was a little confused at first but then it all clicked when he started eyeing our backseat plant. Our tree didn’t prosper as much as yours though! We live in an apartment so it stayed with my mom which does not have a green thumb. She kindly saved all the dead leaves for us to have something to remember it by! Haha!
YoungHouseLove says
Hilarious about the neighbor! And so sorry it died, but the saving of the dead leaves is so funny!
xo
s
Pam/Digging says
Good job on moving it — so many people are afraid to move shrubs or small trees, but it’s pretty do-able, especially if they’re not very big. Winter is the best time to transplant because the plant is not actively growing. Since your recent transplant occurred during summer, you should be sure to water regularly by hand through this summer.
And since you have deer, I strongly suggest setting up a generous “cage” of 5-foot-tall wire (you can stake it with T-posts for fencing) around the young tree to protect it. Come autumn, the bucks may start rubbing their antlers on it, and that’ll strip the bark right off and possibly deform and kill it. Keep the wire cage around the tree for 2-3 years, or until the tree has enough height and girth to withstand “deer love.”
I hope you are able to enjoy your maple for years to come!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Pam!
xo
s
katie | deranchification says
That is really cool! We don’t have anything that big in the way of sentimental plants, but we have a hosta that my aunt transplanted from my grandparents’ yard (a few states away) for us when we bought our house. We added more similar to it and had some animals eat some hostas, so I’m not 100% that the special one is still out there. But my grandparents are gone now and their house has been sold, so I like to think that hosta is still growing in our yard.
Mary Ann says
I live in what used to be my grandparents’ house. When my grandfather died and my grandmother moved in with us, many years ago, she brought a hydrangea bush. Last year we had to sell my childhood home because my father died and my mother could no longer live there alone. Well, one of the plants I dug up to bring to my house was part of the hydrangea bush. It is now back where it belongs.
jen says
I haven’t read through all the comments so sorry if you have heard this already :) Japanese maples love and thrive in sandy soil. So if he/she starts to look a little puny try opening the spot up a little and filling in with some sand. We received a sapling as a gift and the giver told gave us this hint about the soil..so we tried it and the tree has grown leaps and bounds over the other two planted years before in other areas of our yard :)
Emma says
We have a Japanese maple in our yard that isn’t doing well. My boyfriend planted it last year in memory of his sweet dog that died, planted it with some of her ashes. It thrived in spring and he was so happy it survived its first winter but then all the leaves died, I’m hoping it will come back next year. My heart breaks for him.
YoungHouseLove says
Oh, I hope it comes back too!
xo
s
KNatGU says
I don’t have a transplanting story, but I do have a Jap. Maple leave story. A few Christmas’ ago I was in Seattle at my husbands parents home and the had tons of snow. Being a Phoenix native I was outside making a snow man and took two long arms/branches from a near by bush. Later my Mom-in-law asked me about then and then made a ghastly face saying how they were part of a supper expensive and impressive plant My father-in-law, the ever amazing gardener, considered his baby. Opps they were Japanese Maple bushes! We kept it a private joke, luckily the in-laws love me no matter what!
MegW says
Looks like we’ve had success moving a pair of hydrangeas! We used them in our wedding (a gift from my mom, who runs a garden nursery) We renovated our new house and then rented the old house. When the renters signed the lease back in February, I explicitly told them that I would be coming back for the plants (I split a few hostas up so there wasn’t a gaping hole in the landscaping). My hydrangeas hadn’t really grown much over the last 3.5 years, so when I moved them to the new house this spring they really seemed to thrive! Looking forward to the day when they’re as big as the ones on the patio of your old house!!
Halle says
I planted a coconut as a child living on Guam. When we moved two years later, the tree was about three feet tall, and I so wanted to scoop it up and take it with me. If it survived the many typhoons that roll through there, it would be 17 years old this summer :)
Jenna says
I’m glad you were able to bring that special tree to your new home. As for what to do after transplanting the tree, there a few key factors to your tree’s success:
Water: make sure you water it daily (probably throughout the summer). Starting in Sept/Oct (whenever fall starts to show up), you can cut back on the watering routine (maybe every other day). However, a word of warning, don’t always drench the soil. The soil should be moist, not soaked. Keep up with watering for the first 3 years to really get the tree established.
Mulch: a good 3″ of mulch encircling the tree helps maintain soil temperature and moisture. It also cuts back on grass/weeds from trying to compete for soil space. Do not use the black plastic or weed fabric with trees.
As for pruning, wait a few more years. Right now your plant needs to focus on spreading its roots (literally). It needs all the leaves possible to turn the sunlight into tree food. Finally, remember this about all plants regarding transplanting: the first year they sleep; the second year they creep; and the third year they leap!
Vivian says
Sweet story! I’m loving reading all the stories of special plants. When my nephew got married, we had a garden shower and all the guests brought plants/bulbs from their garden and it was lovely to hear all the stories.
Elle says
Aw, so sweet!
We’re relandscaping so we have several new trees and shrubs, and soon we’ll have more ground cover plants as well. Luckily the neighbors have been super nice about the mess our yard has been while it’s in transition, so we’re making sure the plants thrive for their benefit as well as ours. Every day that we haven’t witnessed rain coming down with our own eyes we’ve been getting out there with the hose.
Oh and since you guys are still deciding what to do with your landscape, I just wanted to let you know we did our plan by going to a class hosted by the community college and taught by a local landscaper. It’s a once a week for four weeks class but it’s only offered once or twice a year, so if it’s something you have access to and are interested in, you might have to plan a few months in advance or you’ll miss it (like I did the first time – oops!).
Whitney Dupuis says
Oh my gosh, you guys continue to amaze me. I would never attempt to transplant a tree every time I move. Or rather, my husband would never do it. I am way more the sentimental type than he. Pictures work really well for us to preserve things. Haha!
Maggie says
When we did our final walk-thru about a month ago, we were greeted by a little hole in the front yard – the sellers dug up a tree sometime between entering the contract and our final walk-thru. We didn’t put up to much of a fuss – they gave us a hydrangea to plant and a bottle of wine with a sweet note. One of these days we’ll fill the hole :)
So glad you cleared that up – items planted in the ground are definitely expected to stay unless noted in the contract!