Save a trip to the garden center, shop your own yard

The garden has fully woken up, exposing the survivors and thrivers, along with the final tally of winter victims, and it’s not too late to do some rearranging to make the most of abundant plants and fill newly discovered holes without spending a penny.

Self-sown annuals are finally identifiable, distinguishing themselves from newly sprouted weeds, and they don’t always pop up where they are wanted. Seedlings tend to appear on the edges of patios or in gravel pathways, but they are not all a loss. With a gentle hand and careful extraction, seedlings can be relocated to more desirable locations.

Breadseed poppies (Papaver somniferum) and verbena, including the tall Verbena bonariensis and the ethereal Verbena officianalis ‘Bampton,’ and flowering tobacco (Nicotiana) are all excellent self-sowers, so they not only benefit from being moved to the right place but also thinning.

A handful of biennials, which grow foliage in their first year, flower in their second and produce seeds before ending their life cycle, are some of my favorite plants on the relocation list.

Korean angelica (Angelica gigas) is a stately, structural plant that grows 5 to 6 feet tall and looks good in almost any part-sun to part-shade situation, which makes it well suited to spots in the garden where height is needed. It is a prolific reseeder, which means seedlings either need to be moved to another spot or removed to control the population.

The plants produce a strong root system so even small plants need a shovel rather than a trowel for the move, and they can be finicky about getting established in new spots, so it doesn’t hurt to move a few extra.

Silver sage (Salvia argentea) is another favorite biennial that has fuzzy gray leaves that become rippled as they grow. I prefer the first-year plants with their fresh foliage display over the large flower stalks of second-year plants, so I’m usually on the lookout for seedlings rather than returning plants.

Golden alexanders (Zizia aurea) is an early-flowering native perennial that takes well to transplanting, which is good because it is a healthy, although not aggressive, reseeder. It is coming into bloom now, but it will still transplant fine into a part-sun or shadier spot at this point.

Many other perennials can still be divided and moved around but will likely benefit from cutting back the foliage to a few inches. This decreases the demand on the plant, allowing it to put energy into establishing roots, and there is still plenty of time for it to regrow foliage and flower this year. Newly transplanted plants will need a bit of care, and much like new plants from the garden center, they will appreciate consistent moisture this growing season to get established in their new homes.

As gardens continue to fill out for the season and the spots that need filling show themselves, the best solution might not be a trip to the garden center but a stroll around your own yard.