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A common observation in gardens that have been tended by the same individual or group 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 swap out their drapes twice a year with the changing of the clocks.

The most extended period I've managed a plot is five years, but even in that span it seems as though I made several different gardens. The suck-it-and-see approach of transplanting a specimen that seems somewhat discontent has been a trusted strategy since I started container gardening on a minuscule terrace.

Yes, there’s a risk that moving a plant may overwhelm or challenge it, but it’s also a free and relatively easy way of playing with new shapes, forms and ideas in your plot, regardless of its dimensions. And I’d contend that right now, this slow, quiet time 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 rather be more formal, draw a plan of your borders, whether existing or planned, to help position specimens in their new place.

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 perfect conditions for shuffling some plants around, because many long-lived plants are resting. 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 appearing quite poorly – because the chances are 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 out there. But if you’d rather be more formal, create a diagram of your beds, whether existing or planned, to help place items 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 useful indicator), and add some organic matter or mature compost. Then dig up, place, and firm in securely and provide a thorough watering to celebrate the plant’s fresh abode.

Depending on the plant, you won’t see the results of your work for a few weeks yet, but there’s a satisfaction in this, too. During this period, you can enjoy your new planting arrangement through its skeletal structure; and if it’s not working for you, have another shuffle before the season arrives. A new perspective on the garden for the new year.