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Something I’ve noticed in plots cared for by the same individual or group 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 assurance and inquisitiveness as those restless interior design lovers who change their curtains twice a year with the changing of the clocks.

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 trial-and-error method of lifting something that seems somewhat discontent has been a trusted strategy since I started container gardening 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 contours, structures, and concepts in your plot, regardless of its dimensions. 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 rather be more formal, sketch your beds, whether current or proposed, 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 postpone it until a quiet weekend in January instead. But if things are simply chilly, moist, and dormant out there, you’ve got the ideal circumstances for shuffling some plants around, because many long-lived plants are resting. I recommend you begin 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 new spot will only improve things.

One of my most cherished aspects about gardening is the almost free-flowing nature of how ideas develop once I’m in the garden. 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 dig anything up: excavate a space that’s amply deep and larger than the anticipated rootball (look to the crown of the plant for a good guide), and add some organic matter or mature compost. Then lift, plonk, bed down securely and provide a good water to mark the plant’s fresh abode.

Depending on the plant, 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 enjoy your new planting arrangement through its skeletal structure; and if it’s not to your liking, have another shuffle before spring comes. A fresh take on the garden for the new year.