🔗 Share this article

Something I’ve noticed in gardens that have been tended by the same individual or group is that the finest examples rarely remain the same. People who truly love their plots shuffle things around all the time, with the same assurance and inquisitiveness as those constantly redecorating homeowners who swap out their drapes twice a year with the changing of the clocks.

The longest I’ve ever had a plot is five years, but even in that span it seems as though I made a multitude of distinct spaces. 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 stress or test it, but it’s also a free and relatively easy way of playing with new contours, structures, and concepts in your plot, regardless of its dimensions. And I’d argue that right now, this peaceful, tranquil period between Christmas and January, as one calendar transitions to another, as the days gradually start to stretch out again, is a beautifully symbolic time to do it.

If you’d prefer a structured approach, draw a plan of your borders, whether current or proposed, to help get things in their fresh location.

If you live in an area that has been wet enough to become waterlogged, or completely iced over, 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 rearranging your greenery, because many long-lived plants are resting. I recommend you begin with the things that are bothering you a bit – whether it’s because you wish they were growing better, they’re cramped in an undersized container or appearing quite poorly – because the likelihood is that a different position will only improve things.

One of my most cherished aspects about gardening is the almost free-flowing nature of how ideas develop once I’m out there. But if you’d prefer a methodical plan, create a diagram of your beds, whether existing or planned, to help place items in their new place. Ready the new planting hole before you dig anything up: dig a hole that’s generously deep and larger than the anticipated rootball (look to the base of the specimen for a good guide), and add some mulch or well-rotted compost. Then dig up, place, and firm in securely and provide a thorough watering to celebrate the plant’s new home.

Based on the species, you may not witness the fruits of your labour for a few weeks yet, but there’s a pleasure in this process, too. While you wait, you can enjoy your new planting arrangement through its bare-bones framework; and if it’s not working for you, have another shuffle before spring comes. A new perspective on the garden for the new year.