Moving artichokes and whole garden beds?

[Crystal Lil]

I've just moved house (again!) after spending the last year building 6 terraced raised beds in the council land outside my last rented house. I planted all sorts of perennials in there - including 6 artichokes which are now looking pretty magnificent. I also have rhubarb and a bunch of herbs (lavender, lemonbalm, sage, borage, rosemary, thyme, fennel), garlic is also dotted about the place and I have a passion fruit plant that has hopefully survived the winter and my neglect. I'm wondering if I should try to move any of this over to my new place? I would especially like to take the artichokes but would I be right in saying that they have long tap roots, and so might be difficult to dig up without damaging? Any advice about moving the passion fruit? I've been told that the rhubarb should be easy to move as they're pretty indestructible - and hopefully, I might be able to salvage some of the perennial herbs too.

I was also wondering about moving the soil I've been growing in. The raised beds were kind of built by sheet mulching(cardboard, sheep pellets, pea straw, compost) about a year ago. I was thinking about hiring a trailor and shovelling all the dirt into the back on a tarp and then using it to build new raised beds in my new place. Any thoughts?

I don't reckon I have to do this urgently - it's so wet here (Auckland) just now, I was thinking I could leave it until things dry out a bit. But I would like to get started growing stuff in my new place...maybe I should just start over with one new raised bed in the meantime, while I'm waiting?

Thanks,

Lil.

[pebble]

Hi Lil,

I remember your project from when you posted before.

It'd be pretty cool if you could leave the garden for other people. Is there anyone in that neighbourhood that would take over caring for it? Maybe a community garden or iwi group?

I don't know about shifting the artichokes, but at some point there should be shoots off the side that you can propagate new plants from.

lavender, sage, rosemary, you can move, or take cuttings.
lemonbalm - easy to move, or you can dig it up and divide it and take half and replant the other half.
thyme - same as lemon balm
fennel - might be ok, but has a deep root too. It's pretty hardy though.
borage - hard to transplant. Has it seeded? Best bet is to take some soil from round where plants have seeded. Or collect seed.

Definitely start a new bed in the meantime. Can't have too much soil

[SueinWA]

You've put a lot of work into your beds. I would make an attempt to take them with me.

Leaving the garden for the next tenant is a nice idea, but the chance of getting a gardener to follow you is not what I would bet any money on. Virtually every time I've seen a nicely planted and cared for yard sold, the new owners either let everything die ('too much trouble to take care of') or they bring in heavy equipment and knock down all the beds, trellises, rockeries, ponds, etc, and level everything out and plant grass (gag!), because (you guessed it) 'it was all too much trouble to take care off'.

I would try moving everything. You can try with the artichokes... maybe they're like comfrey and oriental poppies. I dug up a clump of oriental poppies and moved them. I was rather shocked to find that not only did the plants I moved grow very well, but the roots that I left behind sprouted the next year and there is STILL a clump of apricot poppies growing in the first place. I had not known this would happen.

Try.

Sue

[pebble]

I wasn't suggesting leaving the garden for the next tennants. The garden is on council owned land, and I was thinking a local green or social support group might be interested in taking on its care. Community gardens are big in NZ at the moment, and councils often very supportive of community attempts at organic gardening (especially if there are wormfarms or composting involved). I was thinking about permaculture being wider than one's own garden needs.

If you're interested in leaving some of the garden, Lil, this Auckland permie might have some ideas:

http://beneaththepavement.blogspot.com/

[Crystal Lil]

Hi Sue and Pebble

Thanks for your replies. I think I will try moving some of it. There were definitely neighbours in the street who were interested in what i was doing - but I'm not sure how many of them would be interested enough to take it over. I could ask around. The main thing I was thinking about was the effort/expense I'd put into establishing the soil/mulch in the raised beds. I was looking forward to planting in it in its second season, hopefully benefiting from the rotting and worm work that has been going on. I just wasn't sure how much of that I would still benefit from if I shovelled it all up and moved it somewhere else. I guess i should just give it a go and see what happens!

Cheers,

Lil.

[SueinWA]

'I just wasn't sure how much of that I would still benefit from if I shovelled it all up and moved it somewhere else.'

It's still all the same stuff at Point A as it was at Point B. Just keep it moistened so all the worms and microbes don't die.

Quite some years back, I heard of a woman who loaded up the very old family pickup truck with the soil from her organic veg bed and took it to the new house. The truck just barely made it back, and died. So she left the soil in the bed, smoothed it down, and planted it ... IN THE BED of the truck!

Personally, I would rather sneak in and steal all the improved soil from your beds than buy bags of questionable 'compost' from someone who can't even tell you what is in it.

I put quite a bit of work into my beds. I'll keep 'em, thank you very much.

Sue

[Crystal Lil]

I guess the thing I wasn't sure about was whether disturbing all the soil structure that has built up over the last year was going to be a bad thing or not - but it looks like that will be okay. Better that I put it to good use in my new place, rather than let the council spray it with herbicides when it gets too badly neglected if I left it where it was.

I'm thinking I'll give it a go tomorrow - shovel it all onto a tarpaulin on the back of a ute. I'll let you all know how I get on!

Thanks for the advice.

Lil.