Question: We don’t have gutters and downspouts, so it stays fairly wet around our house. Do I need to do anything special to make sure my shrubs don’t “drown? “

Answer: Gutters and downspouts would also help your house’s foundation, so you might want to consider them anyway. However, if you garden without them, raise the planting beds by several inches. That way much of the incident rainfall will run off into the turf. You will need to be careful that your raised beds don’t cover the weep holes in the bottom course of your bricks.