The Perfect Moment to Be Bold and Give Your Garden a Complete Reorganization.

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 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 span it seems as though I made a multitude of distinct spaces. The trial-and-error method 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 playing with new shapes, forms and ideas in your plot, regardless of its dimensions. And I’d argue 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 beautifully symbolic 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 wet enough to become waterlogged, or completely iced over, 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 perfect conditions for shuffling some plants around, 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 wish they were growing better, they’re frustrated in a too-small pot or appearing quite poorly – because the chances are that a different position will only improve things.

One of my favourite things about gardening is the remarkably fluid process 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 designated spot. Prepare the landing site before you lift anything: excavate a space that’s generously 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 firmly and give a good water to mark the plant’s new home.

Based on the species, you may not witness the results of your work for a few weeks yet, but there’s a pleasure in this process, too. During this period, you can appreciate the revised layout through its skeletal structure; and if it’s not working for you, have another shuffle before spring comes. A fresh take on the garden for the new year.