Now is the Time to Be Bold and Undertake a Reshuffle.

Something I’ve noticed in gardens that have been tended 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 change their curtains twice a year with the changing of the clocks.

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 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 chance that relocating a plant may overwhelm or challenge it, but it’s also a free and relatively easy way of playing with new shapes, forms and ideas in your plot, regardless of its dimensions. And I’d contend that right now, this slow, quiet time between the holidays and the new year, 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, sketch your beds, whether existing or planned, to help get things in their fresh location.

If you live in an area that has been damp to the point of boggy, or frozen solid, then save it for 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 perennials will be dormant. 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 looking deathly – because the likelihood is that a new spot will only enhance their situation.

One of my most cherished aspects about gardening is the almost free-flowing nature of how ideas develop once I’m out there. 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: excavate a space that’s generously deep and larger than the expected root mass (look to the base of the specimen for a useful indicator), and add some mulch or well-rotted compost. Then lift, plonk, bed down securely and provide a good water to mark the plant’s new home.

Depending on the plant, you may not witness the fruits of your labour for a few weeks yet, but there’s a pleasure in this process, too. While you wait, 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 fresh take on the garden for the new year.