New house garden advice

first check that she has not got any covenants of tree heights, it is quite common in new builds to have a restriction over 2m

A lilac and a crabapple or a small rown tree

Do it now and put it into a pot. I had a garden makeover two years ago and moved lots of plants and trees.

Water it really well and put it into a pot big enough for the roots then you can just replant when you move.

I have a beautiful acer tree which will be 16 years old, would it be possible to move it, as I’m hoping to be moving house really soon

is there a patio area anywhere? Before you do any planting is there somewhere that could be levelled for a seating area?

If it’s feasible (might not be in the OP’s case) better to wait till late autumn/early winter to transplant or plant a tree. The ground is still warm so,the roots will grow, but the top of the tree is placing less demand on the roots for water, and there is more chance of rain so less chance of the newly planted tree drying out.

My suggestion: standard cotoneaster - not too big, year round interest.

Good luck!

Shez55
Lots of good advice here. Do NOT plant any sycamore or Eucolyptus trees! I have removed thousands of self-set tiny sycamore seedlings in the last 30+ years. Seeds will grow anywhere and everywhere, even in the smallest crack in a wall or path, and soon become a major problem. The trees are far too big for any normal modern garden and the roots are as wide as the tree and can ruin house foundations etc over time. My son has a eucalyptus tree (very cheap to buy) planted by the builder, which grows very fast and is also far too tall for a small modern garden. A friend had to remove his when the Eucolytus roots destroyed his drains - very expensive! Be warned. A small pretty tree may grow to over 100 feet tall and become a major problem! Eg Cupressus × leylandii are definitely to be avoided. Often planted as cheap, fast growing hedges, they can grow to be much taller than your house, and so wide they kill any plant life growing near-by as they suck all the moisture from the soil.
Definitely research any bush or tree BEFORE buying to avoid problems later.

Shezz, whatever you eventually plant, spend some money on improving the soil first with plenty of compost or manure. The plants will grow so much better for it and it will be money well spent.

Reading this post brought back memories of when we moved into our family home. Wanting to widen the borders to get in some shrubs I had to use a pick! It was good for the waistline but hard going!! The lumps of concrete were unbelievable and large stones as well. I had to wait for DH to come home so we could lift them together but I persevered and ended up with the garden I wanted. One bit of advice I was given, and have passed on, was to walk around the local area and see what was growing well in the neighbourhood and go for the same genus of plants or shrubs.

Our local Council recycling site has a huge compost area....u can fill your sacks /bags for free. Worth enquiring if you have similar in your area? We're WALES!

I’d plant self pollinating fruit trees. The blossom in spring is beautiful. If you choose from a specialist grower, the choice is vast. Usually, the trees are grafted. By choosing an appropriate rootstock, you’ll have trees of a suitable height for the garden.

Buy a soil tester kit before moving them to test if lime or acid. If they are happily growing in lime they may not like new soil if it's different.

When I moved here many years ago I was young and stupid and spent a fortune on rhodedendrons and azaleas that promptly dropped dead as we are on chalk here so lime. Expensive mistake.

What they said but I always like a lawn surrounded by shrubs.
I'm quite envious. I like the idea of planning a garden from scratch.
When we last did it on heavy clay soil, We planted a crab apple tree and a lilac. We planted roses near the house which did very well and a mix of easy to grow flowering shrubs along the fence.
Weigela, forsythia, philadelphus, deutzia etc. I'm sure your local nursery will help you spend your money and find plants which thrive.

Our garden is 600ft up, shaded by hills, acid soil so I marvel that anything grows.
I would second the compost in tonnes. Can you buy topsoil?

Thanks for the tree suggestions.
The soil is heavy clay but thankfully not much builders rubble.
First transplant completed and the Viburnum looks happy ? I’ll keep it watered.

In the old days when I used to watch Gardeners World, I remember Alan Titchmarch saying 'Regardless of what some gardeners say, I believe you can move anything at any time of year so long as you keep it well watered for the first few months' so have always kept that in mind and we haven't had any problems so far. I have never moved plants in the height of summer, I think that would be silly but apart from then, have move shrubs in Spring and Summer. So if you want to, I should do it and just make sure you keep it well watered. Good luck.

Loads of water until they're well established. At least that's what my keen-gardener mother always said.

Depending on size of garden Alamanchia trees are good for small, they can be tall and columnar or have a spreading canopy. Rowans are also good for small and large as are cherry again columnar or spreading canopies.

For colour, I would recommend a crab apple...beautiful spring blossom, wonderful autumn colour and you can make jelly with the crabs. Good for wild life too.

Most important is to dig a deeper hole than you need and fork the compost into the loose soil at the bottom. The roots need to go downwards into the soil to stabilise the plant, if you put compost in a shallow hole the roots will go outwards and make the shrubs liable to rock in the wind.

Also the type of compost, manure etc will depend on the type of shrub

Thanks all. Been out to buy manure and top soil. Just about to find out about the soil.

Shez1955
Go online .My garden was reared on these 'sites' as we are all in different locations, different climates ,and differing soil types.
What these locations don't know about horticulture is not worth knowing.

For trees I would suggest magnolias. but plant them away from the fence as they can grow quite big and I have to have mine trimmed every year. They are beautiful though.
or fruit trees which h are either the tall thin variety or the
espaliered ones. Good luck, its all hard work but worth it.

I think it depends on what shrubs they are to how well they will move.

Not sure that this is a good time to move shrubs? I would buy new ones they will soon get going.

Builders are notorious for leaving rubble near the surface of gardens

You can say that again littleflo Our sloping "garden" was left in a terrible state by the builders who had basically fitted poor quality turf over a fine sprinkling of soil. When we removed it we found the garden to be just mounds of dolomite, broken bricks, stones and hardened cement and concrete. It took us months of hard work and tons and tons of top soil to get it anywhere near a garden. We have created tiers and installed a path to make up for the quite steep slope and as Teetime did, we started our own compost bin and have gradually (over the 8 years we have lived here) improved the soil. Its now pretty good.

When you remove the shrubs from the old house keep as big a root ball as you can and keep it moist at all times. Plant in a big hole and enrich the soil with horse manure or soil conditioner. Keep well watered once you have planted them for the rest of the year. Those big flexible buckets are good for transporting shrubs.
As for trees, small ornamental trees such as Rowans (berries can be pink white yellow or red), white barked birch, various cherries or fruit trees all have blossom then the bonus of fruit. The RHS will have suggestions for your specific situation.