Ask Gerry

I am nearing completion of my new build (3 weeks away) and have found a small spring about 10 ft from the house which will naturally slope away from house. Any ideas for using this natural feature? My husband sees it as a problem which should be drained away with piping underground (up to €1,000!!), I see it as an opportunity but not sure how to approach. We have just an acre. It slopes to the back away from the house into a shook, so it can easily be drained away but such a wasted opportunity is it not?I would appreciate any ideas - I haven't really started garden planning yet, just a few ideas floating around, and since the bottom 5-6 metres are a softish bog I was hoping for a more natural water feature there (not fighting nature etc etc)I haven't seen it yet as we only discovered this today, but it is only a trickle. I am open minded - stream, pond, bog garden at bottom, using it as natural irrigation around the site......I would appreciate help on where to go from here, so I can stop those pipes going in and do something long term.