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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. 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 swap out their drapes twice a year with the seasonal time shifts.

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 lifting something that isn’t terribly happy has been a stalwart of mine since I started pot cultivation 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 experimenting with new shapes, forms and ideas in your plot, no matter the size. And I’d argue 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 beautifully symbolic time to do it.

If you’d prefer a structured approach, draw a plan of your borders, whether current or proposed, to help get things in their fresh location.

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 chilly, moist, and dormant out there, you’ve got the perfect conditions for rearranging your greenery, 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 hope for more vigorous growth, they’re cramped in an undersized container or looking deathly – because the chances are that a new spot will only improve things.

One of my favourite things 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, draw up a sketch of your beds, whether existing or planned, to help place items in their new place. Prepare the landing site before you lift anything: dig a hole that’s amply deep and more spacious than the anticipated rootball (look to the base of the specimen for a useful indicator), and add some mulch or well-rotted 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 pleasure in this process, too. While you wait, you can appreciate the revised layout through its skeletal structure; and if it’s not working for you, have a second rearrangement before the season arrives. A fresh take on the garden for the new year.