Lots of rain means lots of water, soggy ground, squishy lawns and for plenty of gardeners, lots of mud!  On the bright side it's a good time of year to see where you have problems with drainage.

TIPS FOR DEALING WITH SOGGY GROUND

• Try not to walk on the soggy patches too much, and definitely don't try to work the soil - you'll drive all the air out of it and make your drainage situation worse.  Just wait until it dries out a bit.
• If you need to access your vege patch lay planks between the rows to walk on.
• Think twice before you take out any large trees on your property - trees pump out an astounding amount of groundwater per day - remove them and you might find you have a flooding problem. 
• If you get soggy lawns and flooded patches every year, this is a perfect time to identify the problem.  Lay some drainage coil under your lawn in spring to drain excess water to the stormwater system.
• If you've got a particularly ruined muddy bit of grass, think about laying a path or some stepping stones. If you put in a gravel path, dig it deeper and put drainage coil in the bottom, fill it with gravel and top with decorative pebbles.
•  If your lawn is soggy give it a good rake this spring to get rid of any thatch that might have built up, improving drainage.
• If you've got some plants that look like they're drowning, shift them while they're not in active growth. Or you can dig some temporary trenches to drain water away.
• Remedy soggy clay soil that dries out and cracks in the summer with gypsum and lots of compost. Dig it in in the springtime, and you'll gradually improve the structure of your clay soil, and improve drainage in winter.