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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 rearrange elements all the time, with the same assurance and inquisitiveness as those constantly redecorating homeowners who swap out their drapes biannually with the seasonal time shifts.

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 trusted strategy 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 playing with new shapes, forms and ideas in your plot, regardless of its dimensions. And I’d argue that right now, this slow, quiet time between the holidays and the new year, 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 rather be more formal, sketch your beds, whether existing or planned, to help get things in their fresh location.

If you live in an area that has been wet enough to become waterlogged, or frozen solid, then save it for a quiet weekend 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 perennials will be dormant. 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 frustrated in a too-small pot or looking deathly – because the chances are that a new spot 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, draw up a sketch of your beds, whether current or envisioned, to help place items in their new place. Prepare the landing site before you lift anything: excavate a space that’s generously deep and larger than the anticipated rootball (look to the crown of the plant for a useful indicator), and add some mulch or well-rotted compost. Then lift, plonk, bed down securely and provide a good water to mark the plant’s new home.

Based on the species, you may not witness the results of your work for a few weeks yet, but there’s a satisfaction in this, too. While you wait, 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 coming year.