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Maya Chen is an HR consultant with over 10 years of experience in performance management and organizational development.
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Now is the Time to Show Courage and Undertake a Reshuffle.
A common observation in gardens that have been tended by the same individual or group 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 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 transplanting a specimen that isn’t terribly happy has been a trusted strategy since I started container gardening on a tiny balcony.
Yes, there’s a risk that moving a plant may stress or test it, but it’s also a free and relatively easy way of experimenting with new contours, structures, and concepts 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 beautifully symbolic time to do it.
If you’d prefer a structured approach, sketch your beds, whether existing or planned, to help position specimens in their fresh location.
If you live in an area that has been damp to the point of boggy, 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 perfect conditions for shuffling some plants around, because many perennials will be dormant. I recommend you begin 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 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 plans unfurl once I’m in the garden. But if you’d rather be more formal, draw up a sketch of your beds, whether current or envisioned, to help get things in their designated spot. Ready the new planting hole before you lift anything: excavate a space that’s amply deep and more spacious than the anticipated rootball (look to the base of the specimen for a good guide), and add some mulch or well-rotted compost. Then lift, plonk, bed down firmly and give a thorough watering to mark 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 enjoy your new planting arrangement through its bare-bones framework; and if it’s not working for you, have a second rearrangement before the season arrives. A fresh take on the garden for the coming year.
Shane Waters
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