Now is the Time 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. Gardeners with a deep passion for 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 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 a multitude of distinct spaces. The suck-it-and-see approach of lifting something that isn’t terribly happy has been a trusted strategy since I started pot cultivation on a tiny balcony.

Yes, there’s a risk that moving a plant may stress or test it, but it’s also a costless and quite simple way of experimenting with new contours, structures, and concepts 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 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 frozen solid, 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 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 cramped in an undersized container or appearing quite poorly – because the chances are that a different position will only enhance their situation.

One of my favourite things about gardening is the remarkably fluid process of how ideas develop 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. Ready the new planting hole before you lift anything: excavate a space that’s amply 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 securely and provide a thorough watering to celebrate the plant’s new home.

Based on the species, you may not witness the results of your work for a couple of weeks, but there’s a pleasure in this process, too. During this period, you can appreciate the revised layout through its bare-bones framework; and if it’s not to your liking, have a second rearrangement before spring comes. A fresh take on the garden for the new year.