🔗 Share this article

Something I’ve noticed in gardens that have been tended by the same person – or people – is that the finest examples rarely remain the same. People who truly love their plots shuffle things around all the time, with the same confidence and curiosity as those constantly redecorating homeowners who change their curtains biannually with the seasonal time shifts.

The most extended period I've managed 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 transplanting a specimen that seems somewhat discontent has been a trusted strategy since I started container gardening on a tiny balcony.

Yes, there’s a chance that relocating a plant may stress or test it, but it’s also a free and relatively easy way of experimenting with new shapes, forms and ideas in your plot, regardless of its dimensions. And I’d argue that right now, this peaceful, tranquil period between Christmas and January, 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 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 damp to the point of boggy, or frozen solid, then postpone it until a calm Saturday in January instead. But if things are simply chilly, moist, and dormant out there, you’ve got the ideal circumstances for rearranging your greenery, because many long-lived plants are resting. I recommend you start with the things that are bothering you a bit – whether it’s because you hope for more vigorous growth, they’re frustrated in a too-small pot or looking deathly – because the chances are that a new spot will only improve things.

One of my favourite things 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 get things in their new place. Ready the new planting hole before you lift anything: excavate a space 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 mulch or well-rotted compost. Then lift, plonk, bed down firmly and give a good water to mark the plant’s new home.

Depending on the plant, you won’t see the fruits of your labour for a few weeks yet, but there’s a satisfaction in this, 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 fresh take on the garden for the new year.