When we moved house last winter, we brought loads of plants with us from our old garden. In order to get them into the ground as quickly as possible they were, for the most part, planted out wherever there was space.

We didn't have the time or the detailed knowledge of the microclimates within the garden to put every plant in the most suitable place.

Over the last year we have come to know the garden much more intimately, and even though it's not huge it's clear that conditions differ depending on where in the garden you are.

Some areas, like the vegetable plot, have been well cultivated in the past and have a deep, well-textured soil, while other areas are more compacted with a clayey subsoil quite close to the surface. There are beds in full and partial shade, and borders in full sun for most of the day; some beds are quite sandy and well-drained, others are much wetter and puddle when it rains heavily.

All this means that some plants have ended up in the wrong place - so this spring, as things have been coming into growth, we have been digging them up and moving them to more suitable positions.

For instance, a clump of Jeffersonia diphylla has been moved from the sunniest part of the garden to a cool, shady side border, while a specimen of Geranium x cantabrigiense has been moved from a damp border to a drier, sunnier spot.

I think plants moved in early spring get a better start than plants that are moved in the autumn and left to languish all winter.

Some plants, lifted and transported from the old garden in a rush, have turned out to consist of two or more different plants growing together. These can be lifted and split now, yielding two plants for the price of one.

Other plants need disentangling because they were planted in what looked like an empty space but which in reality contained an existing but dormant plant.

The bottom of the garden has been looking literally like a bombsite for some time, while we have been moving the patio and excavating a hole for the bog garden. The time is rapidly approaching when we will be ready to line the hole with polythene before backfilling and tidying the area prior to planting.

This will be one area where we should be able to get the planting right first time, since we have created many of the conditions to order.

April 24, 2003 11:00