Today I dug up peonies from the front yard and repotted for next spring. One third of these I will replant, some I will sell to make more money for new plants and the rest I will trade for plants with my neighbors and friends.

Peonies have long roots and are difficult to dig so I wait until we have had plenty of rain and dig them up then. I have a rich mix of compost and potting soil ready for the plants and use recycled shrub containers that I have cleaned and sterilized.

I also received bulbs from my neighbors who were thinning their garden areas. I rototilled an area for them and added compost and shredded leaves. I also piled the soil eight inches high and then added timber for a raised bed. I have too many problems with animals to grow bulbs in soil like many do. A rock wall will also make a fast raised bed if you have rocks available.

My new raised bed took about 2 hours to make. Tomorrow I will add a wire fence screen across the top to stop my wandering visitors from mulching all my bubs before they have a chance to flower.

Late fall is my time to collect plants from the wild, neighbors or stores that have perennials and shrubs on sale. Later this week I will make one more trip to my favorite garden center and but their left over healthy plants for my yard or to trade for other plants from friends.

I will also take some time out to enjoy the last of the fall leaves and collect any seeds from wild flowers. They grow just as nice as those you purchase and no one will ever know they were harvested from the wild. .

When the grass dies down I see all the jobs I missed like filling a hole in the yard and rocks that were kicked up so I will do those small jobs before the snow falls and covers my yard until spring.

photo credit: steve conry

You may also need to move plants quickly such as I need to do and when that is the case you need a holding bed to put any plants in to keep them healthy until you can plant them.

I had to move all my plants out of my front raised bed area and find perennials that were moved when a hillside garden was washed out in a flood we had this summer. So all told,  I had at least11 perennials varieties to move. The perennial groups were large so its fair to say I had over 175 plants that need to be planted as soon as possible.

Creating a holding bed for plants

So I took two large 10-inch posts measuring 10 foot in length and laid them parallel with a three-foot distance in between. I used two bales of straw on the bottom, 10 buckets of rotted sawdust, 5 bags of rotted leaves (referred to as leaf mold) and about 4 wheel barrels of dirt (yes dirt, not soil). I added a little compost on top and put the plants in.

Once the plants were in I watered them and then covered the mixture with grass clippings to help retain moisture.

This should hold the plants until I can get them in their new home – two weeks at the most. I will water them again tomorrow and then leave them alone for a week.

Tip: The plants will determine the depth of your holding bed. Shallow rooted plants need less depth while shrubs or trees will need more depth.

I set up the temporary holding bed in a semi shady area so the plants should do well and not suffer in direct sun.

To make a quick holding bed any large wood boards or beams should work. Dresser drawers and old crates will also work. And I have seen hay bales used too.

As long as you can create a temporary raised garden bed area anything that will hold soil will work.

photo credit: lepiaf.geo (back on 8th)
All you are doing is creating an area where you can hold plants for a few weeks until you plant them in their new garden location. You need a soil mix that the plants can live in, water and to place them in the ground and not disturb then until you are ready to plant them again.

I have used temporary holding beds many times in the past. It has saved plants and been a big help when I find plants, trade plants or have to move a large amount of plants quickly.