🔗 Share this article

Something I’ve noticed in plots cared for by the same individual or group is that the finest examples rarely remain the same. Gardeners with a deep passion for their plots shuffle things around all the time, with the same confidence and curiosity as those restless interior design lovers who change their curtains biannually with the changing of the clocks.

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 suck-it-and-see approach of transplanting a specimen that isn’t terribly happy has been a trusted strategy since I started container gardening on a minuscule terrace.

Yes, there’s a chance that relocating a plant may stress or test it, but it’s also a costless and quite simple way of experimenting with new contours, structures, and concepts in your plot, no matter the size. And I’d contend that right now, this peaceful, tranquil period between the holidays and the new year, between one year and the next, as the days slowly begin to lengthen again, is a symbolically lovely time to do it.

If you’d prefer a structured approach, sketch your beds, whether existing or planned, to help get things in their fresh location.

If you live in an area that has been damp to the point of boggy, or frozen solid, then save it for a calm Saturday in January instead. But if things are simply cool, damp and docile 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 chances are that a new spot will only improve things.

One of my favourite things about gardening is the remarkably fluid process of how ideas develop once I’m in the garden. But if you’d rather be more formal, create a diagram of your beds, whether current or envisioned, to help get things in their new place. Prepare the landing site before you lift anything: dig a hole that’s generously deep and more spacious than the expected root mass (look to the crown of the plant for a good guide), and add some organic matter or mature compost. Then dig up, place, and firm in firmly and give a thorough watering to celebrate the plant’s new home.

Depending on the plant, you may not witness the fruits of your labour for a couple of weeks, but there’s a pleasure in this process, too. While you wait, you can appreciate the revised layout through its bare-bones framework; and if it’s not to your liking, have a second rearrangement before spring comes. A new perspective on the garden for the new year.