The Perfect Moment to Show Courage and Give Your Garden a Complete Reorganization.

A common observation 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 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 seasonal time shifts.

The longest I’ve ever had a plot is five years, but even in that span it seems 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 pot cultivation on a tiny balcony.

Yes, there’s a chance that relocating a plant may overwhelm or challenge it, but it’s also a free and relatively easy way of playing with new contours, structures, and concepts 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, as one calendar transitions to another, 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 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 save it for a calm Saturday in January instead. But if things are simply chilly, moist, and dormant out there, you’ve got the perfect conditions for rearranging your greenery, because many perennials will be dormant. I recommend you start with the things that are bothering you a bit – whether it’s because you wish they were growing better, they’re cramped in an undersized container or appearing quite poorly – because the likelihood is that a new spot will only enhance their situation.

One of my favourite things about gardening is the almost free-flowing nature of how plans unfurl once I’m in the garden. But if you’d prefer a methodical plan, create a diagram of your beds, whether existing or planned, to help place items in their designated spot. Prepare the landing site before you lift anything: dig a hole that’s generously deep and larger 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 thorough watering to mark the plant’s fresh abode.

Depending on the plant, you won’t see the results of your work for a few weeks yet, but there’s a pleasure in this process, too. While you wait, you can enjoy your new planting arrangement through its skeletal structure; and if it’s not to your liking, have a second rearrangement before spring comes. A fresh take on the garden for the coming year.