After Iowa native H. B. Wallace retired to a gated community in Scottsdale, Arizona, he started collecting cacti and other native plants that evolved into the spectacular collection known as the Wallace Desert Gardens. When Wallace died in 2005, it became apparent that the garden inside a private gated residential community was not readily accessible to the public, and thus began a quest to move the plants to another location. Eventually, a cooperative deal was struck with the Boyce Thompson Arboretum in Superior, Arizona, located approximately 70 miles east of the Scottsdale location.
This lovely film with beautiful scenic vistas tracks the process of choosing, moving, and relocating 6,000 plants, many of them huge, fragile, and rare. The procedure required digging up the species that were carefully encased in large containers that were loaded onto semi-trucks. Various persons involved in the move are seen walking among the plants as they explain the challenges of the entire mission that took four years to complete.
Landscape architects, biologists, executive directors, and the move-out manager and coordinator lend their perspectives as they explain the massive undertaking that resulted in a 95% survival rate of the transferred species. The chronologically arranged program concludes with the opening of the combined collection in 2020.
Gorgeous landscape scenery, lovely shots of wildlife (mostly birds and bats), and footage of huge cacti and other plants impressively combine in this title. Garden on the Move would appeal to armchair travelers, environmentalists, garden enthusiasts, and horticulture students. Recommended for public library and college collections.