🔗 Share this article

Something I’ve noticed in gardens that have been tended by the same individual or group is that the best ones never stay the same. People who truly love their plots rearrange elements all the time, with the same assurance and inquisitiveness as those constantly redecorating homeowners who swap out their drapes biannually with the seasonal time shifts.

The longest I’ve ever had a plot is five years, but even in that time I feel as though I made several different gardens. The trial-and-error method of lifting something that isn’t terribly happy has been a trusted strategy since I started pot cultivation on a tiny balcony.

Yes, there’s a risk that moving a plant may overwhelm or challenge it, but it’s also a free and relatively easy way of playing with new shapes, forms and ideas in your plot, no matter the size. And I’d contend that right now, this slow, quiet time between Christmas and January, as one calendar transitions to another, as the days slowly begin to lengthen again, is a symbolically lovely time to do it.

If you’d rather be more formal, sketch your beds, whether existing or planned, to help get things in their new place.

If you live in an area that has been wet enough to become waterlogged, or frozen solid, then save it for a quiet weekend in January instead. But if things are simply chilly, moist, and dormant out there, you’ve got the perfect conditions for shuffling some plants around, because many perennials will be dormant. I recommend you start with the things that are causing you slight concern – whether it’s because you hope for more vigorous growth, they’re cramped in an undersized container or looking deathly – because the likelihood is that a new spot will only enhance their situation.

One of my favourite things about gardening is the almost free-flowing nature of how plans unfurl once I’m in the garden. But if you’d prefer a methodical plan, draw up a sketch of your beds, whether existing or planned, to help place items in their new place. Prepare the landing site before you dig anything up: dig a hole that’s amply deep and more spacious than the anticipated rootball (look to the crown of the plant for a good guide), and add some mulch or well-rotted compost. Then dig up, place, and firm in securely and provide a good water to celebrate the plant’s new home.

Depending on the plant, you won’t see the results of your work for a few weeks yet, but there’s a satisfaction in this, too. During this period, you can enjoy your new planting arrangement through its bare-bones framework; and if it’s not to your liking, have another shuffle before spring comes. A new perspective on the garden for the new year.