🔗 Share this article

A common observation in plots cared for by the same person – or people – is that the best ones never stay the same. People who truly love their plots shuffle things around all the time, with the same assurance and inquisitiveness as those restless interior design lovers who swap out their drapes twice a year 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 several different gardens. The trial-and-error method of transplanting a specimen that seems somewhat discontent has been a stalwart of mine since I started pot cultivation on a tiny balcony.

Yes, there’s a risk that moving 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, no matter the size. And I’d contend that right now, this slow, quiet time between Christmas and January, 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 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 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 wish they were growing better, they’re frustrated in a too-small pot or appearing quite poorly – because the likelihood is that a new spot will only improve things.

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, create a diagram of your beds, whether existing or planned, to help place items in their new place. Ready the new planting hole 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 organic matter or mature compost. Then dig up, place, and firm in firmly and give a thorough watering to celebrate the plant’s fresh abode.

Based on the species, you may not witness the fruits of your labour for a couple of weeks, but there’s a satisfaction in this, too. During this period, you can appreciate the revised layout through its skeletal structure; and if it’s not to your liking, have another shuffle before spring comes. A new perspective on the garden for the coming year.