Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Big Blue's moving day

Big Blue had to move. Its corner of the yard is getting more sun due to tree loss. We found a new home and a replacement plant so all we had to do was dig. How hard could it be? Big Blue is seven and has never been split. It is the biggest hosta in the yard with a root ball to match. So off we went, Pat and I and two shovels. That was the full extent of the plan, dig around the hosta, somehow pick it up and replant it, and then do it all over again. This little project turned out to be not for the faint of heart. I do not recommend moving fully grown big hosta. Boy, was Big Blue heavy. All those years of sweet peet gave Blue a huge root ball. For some reason I thought that I could just pick Blue up and move it to its new home. Then I thought that I could push Blue up a plywood ramp. What finally succeeded was the blue tarp.

You might ask why we didn't wait till fall, after the leaves drop. Well, we had 5 tons of gravel and 2 yards of sweet peet coming, so we wanted to get this "small" project out of the way.

Blue's replacement plant is our largest sum and substance. It also is 7 years old.

 Right about now, I decided that this was going to be harder then I thought.



 Next time, I'm getting a back hoe.


A happy hosta. We gave it a load of sweet peet.


 Big Blue in its new home. It also got a load of sweet peet.

9 comments:

Mark and Gaz said...

Looking good Jim! Hard work but well done!

Gatsbys Gardens said...

Wow, Jim that is one big hosta! Do you know of any hostas that will take the west sun at the end of the day?

Eileen

FlowerLady Lorraine said...

Oh my gosh! Big Blue is huge. What a lot of work, but I know you two are happier now that you have these two hostas in their new homes. I did not realize they got so big. They are beautiful plants.

Happy summer gardening ~ FlowerLady

Marguerite said...

I've only recently discovered the many fantastic uses of a tarp but this is one of them. So much easier to slide a plant on a tarp than try and pick it up and put it in a wheelbarrow. Great job moving Blue.

Vesna Maric said...

Very amusing post. I too have 'Sum and Substance', it is really something.

Lona said...

The tarp was a great idea Jim to drag Big Blue. I can imagine how heavy the hosta was.I hope it likes its new home so you do not have to move it ever again. LOL!

Anonymous said...

Jim, I'm impressed that you got those two big plants moved! I thought about the tarp solution recently when I needed to move a shrub single-handedly. It turned out not to be necessary, because in this case the root ball was smaller than I expected. But now that you've demonstrated how well it works, I'll keep it in mind for future plant moves. -Jean

Sunray Gardens said...

Hey fellow Ohioan. Love your gardens. I also have a Hosta collection. Yours is gorgeous. I am your new follower, would love for you to stop by and follow if you have time. Have a nice weekend.
Cher Sunray Gardens

Jess said...

Its amazing how useful blue tarps are. :)