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Something I’ve noticed in plots cared for by the same person – or people – is that the finest examples rarely remain the same. People who truly love their plots shuffle things around all the time, with the same assurance and inquisitiveness as those constantly redecorating homeowners who swap out their drapes biannually with the changing of the clocks.

The most extended period I've managed a plot is five years, but even in that time I feel as though I made several different gardens. The suck-it-and-see approach of transplanting a specimen 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 stress or test 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 the holidays and the new year, 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 rather be more formal, sketch your beds, whether current or proposed, to help position specimens in their fresh location.

If you live in an area that has been damp to the point of boggy, 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 perfect conditions for rearranging your greenery, because many perennials will be dormant. I recommend you start with the things that are bothering you a bit – whether it’s because you wish they were growing better, they’re frustrated in a too-small pot or looking deathly – because the chances are that a different position will only improve things.

One of my most cherished aspects about gardening is the remarkably fluid process of how plans unfurl once I’m in the garden. But if you’d rather be more formal, draw up a sketch of your beds, whether current or envisioned, to help get things in their new place. Prepare the landing site before you dig anything up: dig a hole that’s generously deep and larger than the expected root mass (look to the crown of the plant for a useful indicator), and add some organic matter or mature compost. Then lift, plonk, bed down securely and provide a thorough watering to mark the plant’s new home.

Depending on the plant, you won’t see the fruits of your labour for a few weeks yet, but there’s a pleasure in this process, too. While you wait, you can enjoy your new planting arrangement through its bare-bones framework; and if it’s not working for you, have a second rearrangement before the season arrives. A new perspective on the garden for the new year.