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Potted Plant Movers
Whether inside or out, large potted plants have to be moved every so often. Inside, the pots need to be relocated to vacuum or dust. Other times it's not a bad idea to move a houseplant outside for a refreshing shower to clean off dusty leaves or to replant with fresh potting mix and slow release fertilizer. If you're lucky, all that's needed is to rotate the pot every now and then to keep the plant from showing that obvious lean toward the light coming in the skylight, windows or sliding glass doors.

Outside, in the garden, under a ramada or on the porch it could be time for a change in container garden layout. That means shuffling fully planted pots form one place to another without injuring your back or damaging the plants. And before winter arrives it might be time to move a container or two to a more protected space, whether it's into a greenhouse, onto a porch or even into the garage for a cold night or two.

Tucson's gardeners often use larger pots because they are less apt to dry out as quickly as smaller containers, especially in the summer. There are foam made pots that are incredibly light as long as they aren't filled with damp potting mix. Large Mexican or Italian clay pots are heavy to move and pots made from concrete need a forklift for relocation.

Whatever the reason, sooner or later, any gardener with potted plants is going to have to move some of them. My garden has a lot of heavy clay pots scattered from front yard to back. Some surround a front yard flagstone patio. Others sit on the back porch and many more adorn the perimeter of the back yard's ramada.

Occasionally, when a friend stopped by for a friendly visit, I used to ask, "Oh, while you're here could you please help me move a couple of pots? It won't take long." You say that too often and friends no longer stop by for a friendly visit. Or if they do, they only want to come visit in the dark of night or when it's raining heavily. Ask your neighbors for help often enough and suddenly they're never home, although their car is in garage. So what's a gardener to do?

Oh, Hello Dolly
All kinds of wheeled dollies or plant caddies are available. They are nothing more than a wood or plastic platform on wheels or casters. Once you lift the pot onto the caddy it can be easily rolled as long as it sits on a hard surface. They're great inside the home if you have a large potted plant that needs occasional rotation to keep it from leaning toward a light source.

Plastic, $11 plant caddy holds pots up to10 inches.

If you have the time or inclination you can quickly make your own plant caddy using some wood, appropriate screws and a set of four casters. I have an old one I made years ago with both recycled wood and casters that I still use outside to move some of my heavy pots from one location to another.

Even with the wheeled caddy or dolly you still have to lift the pot to get it upon the platform so it can be moved. Not always easy for say a 24-inch clay pot filled with potting soil and a plant.

Eight pieces of wood, four plastic casters and some screws are all you need to make a simple wood, plant dolly.
Inexpensive casters are screwed onto the completed wood base.
Completed plant mover can be left natural, painted or stained.

Bringing in the Big Boys
If you have any strength at all in your arms, you can invest in a hand truck which is a small platform with two wheels and a handle. Different sizes can be purchased at any of the home improvement stores and on line. Here's an example of what's available from ACE Hardware. You'll have to slip the lip or platform under the edge of the pot and then tilt everything backward at an angle so it can be rolled to its new location. Works fine on hard surfaces although there is always the chance a really heavy, large unbalanced pot can roll off to the side unless you tie the pot in place.

Charley's Greenhouse & Garden catalog offers what is called the "Pot Truck" which is able to move up to 100 lbs. and "fits pots of all shapes and sizes up to 29 inches high and 18 inches in diameter." Twin metal grabbers slide over the pot's lip, you tilt the thing back like a platform truck and you're ready to move the container.

Another option is any of the many four wheeled wagons available at the big box stores, in catalogs and even some of the chain hardware stores. The problem with carts is getting the pots up off the ground 10 or so inches and onto the cart. Once there, the wagons usually roll well on solid surfaces. Deep gravel and rock which can be found in some driveways can be a problem, if not a nightmare.

The final option might be to make friends with your local high school's football coach. Bake a few brownies, praise the coach and then claim you have a new training program for the school's football players. I vividly remember being offered cold hard cash to do some manual labor by a kind looking, grandmotherly woman while walking home from junior high school one afternoon. After an invigorating hours worth of work, I was handed a nice shiny quarter and told to come back again tomorrow. After that I had to find a new way home so I wouldn't walk past the lady's house and learned to get the pay scale in writing ̶ before the work starts. (2005)