Question
We are adding a farmer's porch to the front of my house.  This project will take approximately 6 weeks to complete.  I need to move all of my shrubs and bushes and would like to replant them once the porch is completed.  Is there any way that I can dig them up and save them until they can be replanted again?  Any assistance you can give me would be greatly appreciated.

Answer
Timing is everything.  You could not have picked a better time to undertake this project.

Already, hardy shrubs and bushes are transitioning to dormancy.  Metabolism slows, chlorophyll production ceases, anti-freezing sugars concentrate in stems, and the plant pours carbohydrates into roots underground.

Dormant plants can have very active roots.  In fact, some plants actually experience a growth spurt called 'root flux'.

What you DON'T want to do is hold these through the Winter out of the ground.  Doing that deprives root cells of their biggest growth opportunity of the season.  They can't accomplish the same things when there is pressure upstairs for the usual uptake and downtake.

If you can somehow prepare their planting holes, then pot them up until it's time to put them in the ground and settling them in, your conditions are practically perfect.  Make sure they get the same weather exposure as any outdoor plant would get normally.  Be careful not to overwater, and do not fertilize (very important, this last item, because you don't want the plant to break dormancy).

Autumn is the perfect time of year to do this.