The Perfect Moment to Show Courage and Undertake a Complete Reorganization.

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 rearrange elements all the time, with the same assurance and inquisitiveness as those restless interior design lovers who change their curtains twice a year 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 suck-it-and-see approach of lifting something that isn’t terribly happy has been a stalwart of mine since I started pot cultivation on a minuscule terrace.

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 playing with new shapes, forms and ideas in your plot, regardless of its dimensions. And I’d argue that right now, this peaceful, tranquil period 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 get things in their new place.

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 rearranging your greenery, because many perennials will be dormant. 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 frustrated in a too-small pot or appearing quite poorly – because the likelihood is that a different position will only enhance their situation.

One of my favourite things about gardening is the remarkably fluid process of how plans unfurl once I’m out there. But if you’d rather be more formal, draw up a sketch of your beds, whether current or envisioned, to help place items in their designated spot. Ready the new planting hole before you dig anything up: dig a hole that’s generously deep and larger than the anticipated rootball (look to the base of the specimen for a useful indicator), and add some mulch or well-rotted compost. Then dig up, place, and firm in securely and provide a good water to mark the plant’s fresh abode.

Based on the species, you won’t see the fruits of your labour for a few weeks yet, but there’s a pleasure in this process, too. During this period, you can enjoy your new planting arrangement through its bare-bones framework; and if it’s not to your liking, have another shuffle before spring comes. A new perspective on the garden for the new year.