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Something I’ve noticed in gardens that have been tended by the same person – or people – is that the finest examples rarely remain the same. Gardeners with a deep passion for 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 seasonal time shifts.

The most extended period I've managed 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 lifting something that isn’t terribly happy has been a trusted strategy 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 playing with new shapes, forms and ideas in your plot, no matter the size. And I’d argue that right now, this peaceful, tranquil period between Christmas and January, as one calendar transitions to another, as the days slowly begin to lengthen 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 fresh location.

If you live in an area that has been wet enough to become waterlogged, or frozen solid, then postpone it until a calm Saturday in January instead. But if things are simply chilly, moist, and dormant out there, you’ve got the ideal circumstances for rearranging your greenery, because many perennials will be dormant. 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 cramped in an undersized container or appearing quite poorly – because the chances are that a new spot will only improve things.

One of my favourite things about gardening is the remarkably fluid process of how plans unfurl once I’m out there. But if you’d rather be more formal, create a diagram of your beds, whether current or envisioned, to help place items in their new place. Ready the new planting hole before you lift anything: 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 celebrate the plant’s new home.

Based on the species, you may not witness the results of your work for a couple of weeks, but there’s a satisfaction in this, too. While you wait, you can enjoy your new planting arrangement through its skeletal structure; and if it’s not to your liking, have a second rearrangement before spring comes. A new perspective on the garden for the coming year.