Now is the Time to Be Bold and Undertake a Complete Reorganization.
Something I’ve noticed in plots cared for by the same individual or group is that the best ones never stay the same. Gardeners with a deep passion for 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 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 minuscule terrace.
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 contours, structures, and concepts 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 gradually start to stretch out again, is a beautifully symbolic time to do it.
If you’d rather be more formal, sketch your beds, whether existing or planned, to help position specimens in their new place.
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 chilly, moist, and dormant out there, you’ve got the ideal circumstances for shuffling some plants around, 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 frustrated in a too-small pot or looking deathly – because the likelihood is that a different position will only enhance their situation.
One of my favourite things about gardening is the almost free-flowing nature 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 larger than the anticipated rootball (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 mark the plant’s fresh abode.
Depending on the plant, you won’t see the results of your work 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 working for you, have a second rearrangement before spring comes. A fresh take on the garden for the new year.
