Can you take your plants?
When you sell your home, unless you’ve excluded specific plantings in the Agreement of Sale, they stay with the house. To be clear, I am referring to plants that are planted in the ground or in permanent (non-movable) raised beds. If you have free-standing planters and/or pots, then the plants as well as their containers are not considered attached and, therefore do not convey to the buyer.
Why not?
I am a gardener and understand how hard it would be to have to leave my plants behind. However (beyond the fact that not everything transplants well after the disruption of having been dug up) they are part of the purchase. Landscaping makes a substantial difference to the look and feel of a property and may well have influenced the value the buyer ascribed to your home. So, consider how you would feel as a buyer who appreciated the lovely perennials on a property you’re about to buy. You go to walk through it the day before closing only to notice that several shrubs and other perennials are missing. That property is no longer the same as the one you agreed to buy and replacing plants (especially mature ones) is expensive!
If you must…
If there are certain plants that are truly important enough to you that you want to move them to your new home once you’ve sold your current property, be certain to explain it to your agent. Then, ensure your agent has disclosed that those specific plants are excluded AND be sure that they are on the Agreement of Sale as exclusions. Then there will be no unpleasant suprises at settlement.
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