Decluttering House Plants: What to Do With Plants When Downsizing

I personally have a black thumb, but some of you REALLY love house plants. You probably know exactly where all your different plants came from and/or who gave them to you. Some of them might be many years old. You have taken pride in growing them and keeping them alive.

When you downsize your home, you might not be able to bring all of your house plants to your new home. It might be hard to take them with you if you move to a smaller space or if you move to a place where you don’t have the same directional sunlight in the rooms where it makes sense to house your plants.

So what can you do to give your precious house plants a new life when you’re downsizing?

• Relocate - House plants and outside plants are not always the same type of plant. IF you happen to have some indoor plants that can also function as outdoor plants, move those ones outside and make them part of your regular garden. If you’re moving to a home where you can garden, you can bring your favorites with you and relocate them to your new outdoor garden. Indoor space SAVED!

• Regift - Find your favorite plant-loving friends or relatives and divide your plants amongst their households. Just make sure they are equipped to carry on your good work so the plant will continue to thrive.

• Redecorate - (I’m stretching a little bit with the “re” theme attributed to this piece of advice, but I think I can make it work.) You can also connect those plants with school classrooms, offices, senior centers, or churches who might appreciate them as living decorations for their spaces. 

• Swap - (I could no longer keep my theme going) If you Google “Plant Swap Near Me,” you’ll probably find a few great sites that are set up for giving away plants for free. Just don’t be tempted to actually swap your plant for another one as you’re trying to downsize! Be on the giving end of the swap and don’t receive anything in exchange.

When you execute the above suggestions, keep a few main guidelines in mind:

1. Don’t give away any plants that are pest-infested or diseased.
2. Make sure the person you are giving the plant to actually wants the plant.
3. If the plant has specific care instructions, make sure to share those instructions with the person receiving the plant.

This blog is specifically about house plants, but I thought I’d give a quick tidbit about outdoor plants as well. If you’re selling your home (in the State of Wisconsin) and you have a lot of gardens with perennial plants, these plants are considered “Fixtures” of the home. Fixtures automatically stay with the home when you sell. If you have outdoor plants you’d like to take with you when you move, make sure your real estate agent is aware and gets those plants excluded from the offer to purchase so you can take them with you when you move.