Most people who move have to pack and transport belongings and memories from just their homes. If you have a greenhouse on your property, you need to decide what to do with a whole other structure.

Should you move your greenhouse with you, or should you build a new one? Can you even move a greenhouse to begin with?

Yes, you can move it, and there are many reasons why that might be a better option than building a new one from scratch.

• It’ll save you money: Greenhouse materials can be expensive, and you’ll have to buy new high-quality parts when you already have them literally right in your backyard. Moving your conservatory can save you the cost of these materials.
• It’s sustainable: Reusing material you already own minimizes waste and reduces consumption. It’s good for the environment!
• It’ll save you time: You won’t have to start from scratch with a new blueprint, new plants, and new materials. You’ll have most of your greenhouse items with you and can recreate its current layout in your new home.
• It’ll preserve its sentimental value: You’ve spent months, maybe even years, giving your beloved plants some TLC — it’s only natural you don’t want to leave them behind. Moving your greenhouse means you don’t have to.

Read on for the lowdown on all things greenhouse, from the supplies you need when taking it down to the permits you need at its final destination.

Prepare the Greenhouse for Moving

Collect the tools and supplies you’ll need

There are different parts to moving a greenhouse, and you’ll need different tools to carefully take them apart and pack them for your move. Here’s a checklist of the basic items you need:

For the greenhouse structure

• Pair of pliers
• Flat and crosshead screwdrivers
• Adjustable wrench
• Short ladder to reach the roof
• Containers to gather brackets, clips, nuts, and bolts
• Masking tape
• Marker

For the plants

• Hand shovel
• Burlap bags, plant pots, buckets, or trash bags
• Extra potting soil

Personal protective equipment

• Thick gloves
• Safety glasses
• Sturdy shoes or boots

Packaging materials

• Bubble wrap, foam padding, and foam corners to safeguard fragile components, especially glass panes
• Rope to secure them

Document what your greenhouse structure looks like

Make detailed notes of your greenhouse before removing anything to make reassembling it easier. You can draw a rough sketch of the floor plan that maps out where each plant goes.

Take photos of the general shape of the greenhouse from different angles to document what the final structure looks like. Then zoom in and photograph the joints so you know where the nuts and bolts fit together.

Clear out everything from inside

Start with items that are easy to remove and work your way to heftier things. Remove any small, unsecured items like tools, heaters, and fertilizer bags. Next, move out the heavier mobile items like pots, shelves, and benches. Then comes the turn of secured items like lightning and shades.

Once you have the accessories out of the way, it’s time to focus on the plants.

Remove and prep your plants for moving

Changing a plant’s environment — even temporarily during transport — can cause distress. To make the journey easier on them, trim dying or surplus stems from any plants that need it before you dig them up.

When digging up plants, take special care not to damage the roots — use a hand shovel to dig a ring around the plant’s main stem, following the roots’ position in the drip line. Keep the soil around the roots intact.

“…most moving companies won’t transport potted plants with soil. They’re delicate and messy, and if you’re moving interstate, there are multiple state laws to take into account.”

Place the plant in a bucket, pot plant, or burlap bag for transport. You can then place the relocated plant in a trash bag so that loose soil doesn’t spill all over your vehicle.

To learn more about how to move your plants safely, including watering and re-planting recommendations, check out our guide for how to move your garden.

How To Dismantle a Greenhouse

Start with the roof and work your way down

You’ve cleared out the movable items, and now it’s time for the heavy lifting. It’s possible to do this yourself, but it’s not the best idea. Having someone to hand off panes to will make your job much easier and safer.

• First, remove the glass or polycarbonate panes from the roof and then tackle one wall at a time. As you remove the panes, use masking tape and marker to label where they came from — north, south, east, or west walls, and roof.
• Clips, brackets, nuts and bolts are easy to lose, so put them in a bucket or trash bag immediately.
• Clear moss off any panes before taking them out. The last thing you want is to lose your grip and drop them! You can scrape off dead moss using your screwdriver or a plastic spatula. Fresh moss needs to be sprayed with moss killer first and scraped off after 15 minutes. If you’d rather not use harsh chemicals from a store-bought product, a dish soap and warm water mix will also help, though it might take longer.
• Next, take the door off its hinges (or brackets, if it’s a sliding door) and then move on to the roof vents.
• When you’re left with just the greenhouse frame, try to keep as much of it intact as you can. Instead of detaching each beam, keep each wall or roof frame in one piece if your greenhouse is small enough to do so. This will make reassembling it easier in your new home. Don’t forget to use masking tape and mark each frame too!

Protect and pack the different components for transport

While this video shows a glass tabletop, the same process applies to glass panes in a greenhouse.

It’s not just bumps on the road during transport that can break glass — prolonged vibrations between panes of glass can also damage them if there’s direct contact. You can place bubble wrap or foam padding between the glass sheets and use foam corners to protect them.

You could add an extra layer of protection and wrap each pane and padding item with packing paper. Label each one with ‘Fragile – Glass’ to prepare for loading onto the truck.

“You should also check if your Homeowners Association has any specific rules or requirements for greenhouses and comply with those. You don’t want to get into a scuffle with your new neighbors!”

Polycarbonate is 250 times stronger than glass, so you don’t have to worry about breakage en route. You can place thinner sheets of packing paper between polycarbonate panes to shield them from scratches.

The frame, thankfully, is less prone to breakage. Use the bubble wrap or foam padding on the corners of your frames to protect other items they might come into contact with on the journey.

How To Transport a Greenhouse

Consider hiring professional movers

Here’s the not-so-great news — most moving companies won’t transport potted plants with soil. They’re delicate and messy, and if you’re moving interstate, there are multiple state laws to take into account. You can always ask, but be prepared to make your own arrangements. Check out our blog post to know your options for how to move your plants long distance.

The actual components of your conservatory? Those are fair game. You can hire professional movers to transport the panes and frames. They’ll have the equipment you need to secure the parts in the truck and transport them safely.

Safely load and secure greenhouse parts

You’ve already packed your greenhouse glass (or polycarbonate) panes safely. Now it’s time to load them onto the moving truck.

Stack them vertically or diagonally in the truck so that each pane is only bearing its own weight. Use rope to secure the panes to the truck so that they don’t shift or bounce during transport. Secure the frames to the truck as well to avoid them tipping over and breaking the glass.

Keep road regulations in mind and plan your route

If you’re bringing any plants with you in your car or rental truck, you’ll need to carefully map out your route to ensure you’re allowed to take those plants through a state you’ll be driving through.

Check the Department of Agriculture website for each state on your route or the National Plant Board website before you hit the road. If you have any prohibited plants that are allowed at your final destination, you’ll either have to go around that state or ship those plants by mail through UPS, USPS, or FedEx. Check the guidelines for these companies too before you pack up the plant and send it on its way.

Set Up Your Greenhouse in Your New Home

Find a spot with ideal sunlight exposure

If it’s possible, observe the sun’s movement across your garden throughout the day to find a spot that gets plenty of sunlight for a long time. Make sure you place it a safe distance away from the shade of tall trees — not only do they block direct sunlight, their branches pose a risk to the glass if they fall right on the greenhouse.

Check local climate and weather

Unless you’re moving a short distance away, you might have questions about which plants will survive the move with you. The answer lies in their hardiness, or what cold weather and low temperatures they can withstand. This is not an abstract concept — the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map can help you figure out whether your plants will thrive in their new environment.

“As you remove the panes [from your greenhouse], use masking tape and marker to label where they came from — north, south, east, or west walls, and roof.”

Your plant tags should state their hardiness zones. If you don’t still have the tags, you can look up your zone by zip code to find plants that will survive in that zone.

And the plants that don’t make the cut? You’ll have to find them a new home locally.

• Donate them to friends, family, or neighbors who’d like to take care of them
• Put them up for adoption on Plant Amnesty’s Adopt-a-Plant listing
• Check if your local garden club would like to take them
• List them on Facebook Marketplace

Consider soil and drainage options

You can grow your plants directly in the ground, or using pots or raised plant beds, or a combination of the two.

For pots and plant beds, head to your nearest home goods or gardening store and buy the potting soil and fertilizer your plants need.

For plants that will grow directly in the ground, the soil in your garden will need to be suitable for them to flourish. Your local extension office is an excellent resource to help with all things gardening, including answering your burning questions about specific soil, drainage, weeds, and landscaping. Ask them about soil testing to discover your garden soil’s nutrient levels and how acidic it is.

Your greenhouse needs to be on level ground to avoid drainage problems like water pooling after watering your yard or heavy rain. If the ideal spot is on uneven ground, you’ll have to level the land before you build.

Comply with legal and regulatory requirements

Unfortunately, there’s no one-size-fits-all checklist as to what regulations, permits, and codes you need to have in place before building a greenhouse in your new home. These vary from state to state, and you’ll need to check with the local authorities in your region for what’s applicable to you.

• Zoning permit: Your local zoning department will issue this permit that regulates how many accessory buildings, such as greenhouses or conservatories, storage sheds, swimming pools, gazebos, detached garages, etc. you can build and where on the property you can build them.
• Building permit: Your local building department will issue this permit to ensure your greenhouse complies with safety standards. It assesses the structural integrity of your greenhouse and how it looks, including its size and height.

You should also check if your Homeowners Association has any specific rules or requirements for greenhouses and comply with those. You don’t want to get into a scuffle with your new neighbors!

Lastly, don’t forget about the Environmental Protection Agency. You don’t need a permit from them, but keep in mind the EPA’s best practices to prevent pollution.

• Store fuel, wood waste, fertilizer, or pesticides contained and far away from streams, springs, creeks, lakes, ponds, etc. on your property.
• Design your greenhouse to work well with efficient watering and drip irrigation systems. If you can, separate and disinfect wash water or wastewater for reuse.

You can find more information on the EPA’s website.

With your greenhouse built to code and plants re-homed, it’s time to enjoy the fruits of your labor. You can replace any plants you couldn’t bring with you to have a full, flourishing greenhouse to enjoy once again.