Now is the Time to Show Courage and Give Your Garden a Reshuffle.
Something I’ve noticed in gardens that have been tended by the same individual or group is that the best ones never stay the same. People who truly love their plots rearrange elements all the time, with the same confidence and curiosity as those constantly redecorating homeowners who swap out their drapes biannually with the changing of the clocks.
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 lifting something that seems somewhat discontent has been a stalwart of mine since I started container gardening on a tiny balcony.
Yes, there’s a chance that relocating a plant may overwhelm or challenge it, but it’s also a costless and quite simple way of experimenting 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 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, draw a plan of your borders, whether existing or planned, to help get things in their fresh location.
If you live in an area that has been wet enough to become waterlogged, 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 perfect conditions for rearranging your greenery, because many long-lived plants are resting. I recommend you begin 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 appearing quite poorly – because the chances are that a different position will only improve things.
One of my most cherished aspects 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 existing or planned, to help place items in their designated spot. Prepare the landing site before you dig anything up: excavate a space that’s amply 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 firmly and give 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 appreciate the revised layout through its bare-bones framework; and if it’s not to your liking, have another shuffle before spring comes. A fresh take on the garden for the new year.