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A common observation 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 rearrange elements all the time, with the same confidence and curiosity as those restless interior design lovers who change their curtains biannually with the changing of the clocks.

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 transplanting a specimen that isn’t terribly happy has been a stalwart of mine 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 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 slow, quiet time between Christmas and January, 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 position specimens in their new place.

If you live in an area that has been damp to the point of boggy, or completely iced over, 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 shuffling some plants around, because many long-lived plants are resting. I recommend you begin with the things that are bothering you a bit – whether it’s because you hope for more vigorous growth, they’re frustrated in a too-small pot 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 ideas develop once I’m out there. But if you’d rather be more formal, draw up a sketch of your beds, whether existing or planned, to help get things in their new place. Prepare the landing site before you dig anything up: 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 dig up, place, and firm in firmly and give a good water to mark the plant’s fresh abode.

Based on the species, you may not witness the fruits of your labour for a few weeks yet, but there’s a pleasure in this process, too. During this period, you can appreciate the revised layout through its bare-bones framework; and if it’s not to your liking, have a second rearrangement before the season arrives. A fresh take on the garden for the coming year.