Water, water, everywhere

Most of us in south eastern Australia have spent the last few years focused on retaining and re-using every last drop of water.

Now, we have a different problem. What to do with it all?

Gardens created in the last decade or so are showing themselves in a new light: rivulets running down driveways, swamps which were once dry beds, soggy bits and overflowing drains and burgeoning weeds.

Drainage, I admit, is not the most romantic of gardening concepts. But fine weather or foul, it can make or break any garden.

So here are a few helpful resources if you, like me, find yourself slogging through the muck where once you were lugging precious buckets of shower water:
Drainage basics
Paving and textures for small backyard areas
Raised garden beds
Build a rain garden

Yes, a decent drainage plan and system can be hard work, or expensive, or both. But it is, literally, the underpinning of a good garden structure. Most importantly, working with the way the water wants to run can help you plan your garden around nature, instead of against it.

And if all else fails, there are always...