WITH all the heavy rain, flooding and gale-force winds we have had to cope with in the last few weeks, it's fair to say that our gardens have taken quite a beating. Once things have begun to settle down again, it will be time to take stock of the damage, begin to make repairs and plan for the future.

The most obvious damage is that suffered by large trees. This must be dealt with as soon as possible, especially if the tree is in a dangerous condition. If there is a possibility of saving a large or unusual specimen in your garden, then you should call in the services of a qualified tree surgeon. With trees that are very badly damaged or already on the ground, there is not much to be done except clear up the debris, make a good stack of firewood for next winter and replant. If the fallen tree is a British native then I would generally recommend replacing like with like. But if it's an ornamental, then there is the opportunity to plant something different. Unless you hire in a stump grinder, which will gobble out the old stump together with most of the rootplate, it's not usually possible to replant in exactly the same spot that the old tree occupied. Plant to one side or the other, looking at the new tree from all angles to make sure it looks good from every direction.

Even small trees and shrubs such as roses may have been rocking in the wind, making them unstable and breaking off small feeder roots in the process. They must be firmed back into the soil, with the heel of your boot, tying them to a stake if they continue to rock. Give them a good feed of slow-release, organic fertilizer, together with a mulch of well rotted compost; this will help them to re-establish as they come into growth in spring.

Where plants have been flooded or forced to stand for many days in waterlogged soil, there is a fair chance that some root damage will have resulted. It is generally impossible to tell if this has been fatal until things begin to grow again (or not as the case may be) in spring. Many herbaceous plants will shrug off a cold bath and continue to grow as if nothing has happened. Small shrubs, and in particular those like rosemary, lavender and Ceanothus from Mediterranean countries, may well have given up the ghost at the first signs of too much water. If you do lose a plant and have to replace it, ask yourself a couple of questions before replanting. Was this a one-off waterlogging, or does this piece of ground regularly flood? Should you improve the drainage by digging in grit and organic matter before replanting, or would you be better putting susceptible plants in another part of the garden?