Verdigriis's Profile

So, I've moved a bunch of plants across Australia (we also have restrictions about moving plants in and out of states), and I found the only way to do it was to drive them. I took the bigger ones out of their pots, trimmed the root ball down a bit and wrapped them in sacks, pruned the tops a bit, and then stuck them in the back of a 4WD (I think you call these SUVs). My parents also kindly looked after a bunch of them for a while, then drove them over on a later visit.

Having done that, I would suggest it's not really worth the bother, except for very special plants. I have a few bonsais that I've been working on for nearly a decade that I'm glad I still have, but of course they're the smallest and easiest to move. The plants I left with my parents were with them for more than a year, and in that time I stopped missing them - I was actually not sure I wanted them by the time they were brought over (I told my folks to give them away or bin them or whatever they wanted, but they insisted). It's great to get new plants that suit your tastes and space and climate in the new place.

But if you really really want to keep them, a possibly solution is to find a friend or family member to look after them until you have the time and money to drive them to your new state.