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Something I’ve noticed in gardens that have been tended by the same individual or group is that the finest examples rarely remain the same. Gardeners with a deep passion for their plots shuffle things around 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 span it seems as though I made a multitude of distinct spaces. The suck-it-and-see approach of lifting something that isn’t terribly happy has been a stalwart of mine since I started container gardening on a tiny balcony.

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 playing with new contours, structures, and concepts in your plot, no matter the size. And I’d contend that right now, this peaceful, tranquil period between Christmas and January, 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 rather be more formal, sketch your beds, whether current or proposed, to help position specimens in their new place.

If you live in an area that has been wet enough to become waterlogged, or completely iced over, then save it for a calm Saturday in January instead. But if things are simply cool, damp and docile out there, you’ve got the perfect conditions for rearranging your greenery, because many long-lived plants are resting. 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 different position will only improve things.

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, create a diagram of your beds, whether current or envisioned, to help place items in their designated spot. Ready the new planting hole before you lift anything: dig a hole that’s generously deep and larger than the anticipated rootball (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 celebrate the plant’s new home.

Based on the species, you won’t see the fruits of your labour for a couple of weeks, but there’s a pleasure in this process, too. During this period, you can enjoy your new planting arrangement through its bare-bones framework; and if it’s not to your liking, have another shuffle before the season arrives. A new perspective on the garden for the new year.