Now is the Time to Be Bold and Give Your Garden a Complete Reorganization.
A common observation in plots cared for by the same individual or group is that the best ones never stay the same. Gardeners with a deep passion for their plots rearrange elements all the time, with the same confidence and curiosity as those restless interior design lovers 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 suck-it-and-see approach of transplanting a specimen that isn’t terribly happy has been a stalwart of mine since I started container gardening 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 experimenting with new contours, structures, and concepts in your plot, no matter the size. And I’d argue that right now, this slow, quiet time between the holidays and the new year, as one calendar transitions to another, as the days gradually start to stretch out again, is a symbolically lovely time to do it.
If you’d rather be more formal, sketch your beds, whether current or proposed, to help position specimens in their fresh location.
If you live in an area that has been damp to the point of boggy, or frozen solid, then postpone it until a quiet weekend in January instead. But if things are simply cool, damp and docile 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 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 enhance their situation.
One of my favourite things about gardening is the remarkably fluid process 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 current or envisioned, to help place items 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 base of the specimen for a good guide), and add some organic matter or mature compost. Then lift, plonk, bed down firmly and give a thorough watering 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 pleasure in this process, too. While you wait, you can appreciate the revised layout through its skeletal structure; and if it’s not to your liking, have a second rearrangement before the season arrives. A new perspective on the garden for the coming year.