v1rtu0s1ty, I don't have a second meter so I can't compare that cost for you, but that sounds reasonable as far as plumbing work goes. I would suggest that if you are having someone install a new meter for you that you go the extra step and have them plumb a direct connection you can use for your irrigation instead of(or in addition to) a hose bib. If you look a few posts back you'll see me discuss the benefits of increased flow from a direct connection as opposed to running off a restrictive hose bib. Look inside one of the faucets on your house and you'll see how tiny that opening is. You may be cutting your GPM potential in half, limiting your entire system's design. While you're at it have them install a backflow preveter for you. These can be bought at Lowe's for as little as $40. That will keep fertilizer/pesticides, etc. from being siphoned back into your home's water supply. Yuck! I have some valves installed at the spot where my water connection is made, then a long length of pipe runs around the back of the house to another set of valves. So all valves should run off the same water connection/backflow preventer. That looks like the right pipe. I'd recommend not going below 3/4", and 1" if you can afford the cost of the pipe, connectors, etc. It also comes in different pressure ratings. I think 100psi and 160psi. The 100 psi is easier to bend and insert fitting into, but isn' appropriate for use where the pipe is going to be under constant pressure. Use the 160 psi stuff for those situations. Example, the pipe that runs around to the back of my house is constantly under pressure so I used the higher PSi stuff. Design the system after the second meter is installed. You need to test for GPM and also find the static pressure. Once you know those things you can start to figure plcaement of your heads. Different heads will throw water different distances depending on what your pressure is. The heads should have a little chart right on them that tells you how many feet of throw you'll get at various pressures. You'll need to take into account pressure losses from your pipe runs and connectors, backflow preventer to figure what the actual pressure a the head will be. Go forth and make rain! check out www.irrigationtutorials.com by Jess Stryker for lots of info.

No stairs going downstairs /we don't live in basement land. A real window would be fine . . . if it were to fall in the closet, but I'm not sure whether it would bisect the staircase itself. If your landing is around the 5' mark though, I'd assume a (small) window would fit into that closet. I'm thinking that it could be a small, non-functional window -- after all, we'd never want to open it in the closet. I think the dining room roof overhang will end up being a BALANCE between letting in enough light for the sun-filled space I want vs. overheating. Perhaps we should go with a ceiling fan above the table. I have several pictures of dining rooms in this style that I love, but this may be a weak point in the plan. Yes, I count 12 floor-to-ceiling windows. We had them in our starter house (though only four of them), and I LOVED THEM. They're something upon which I'm willing to splurge, and I like the idea that we'll have a wide-open view of the pool. However, if we check the price and find them outrageous, I can see a couple possible downsizes: - On the back wall of the living room I've placed a bank of three. That could drop to two. Considering we have a single door there, perhaps two is the "right size" anyway. - I could go with standard-sized windows flanking the bed. - Perhaps the study windows could become standard-sized. However, even thinking about them being a big splurge, I wouldn't give up the floor-to-ceiling windows altogether. I loved them too much in our old house. They brought in so much light, and the cross-breeze was wonderful in the spring and fall. The garage isn't particularly drawn to any scale -- it's just stuck in there. I can't say I've much thought beyond, "Yes, we'll store pool things there". I should investigate just how much space is necessary for these items. We recently ditched our lawnmower and other yard tools and have no plans to replace them. We're done doing that ourselves. I do have rakes, hoes, etc. for flower beds, but those don't take up much space. We're Southern, so we don't store our patio furniture in the winter. We're still using it. Similarly, HVAC units are all located outside here. I'm imagining it behind the pantry, enclosed by a trellis box and surrounded by flowers. However, in reality, the HVAC guy will tell us where this should go. He might say it should go along the side of the house. I feel out of my element on this one. I don't share the concern about walking through the study. That was the last part of the plan that came together for us: We tried all types of staircases in the space that's now the study. Tried bumping the entryway forward to the edge of the bedroom. Tried all sorts of things . . . 'til one day we thought about the staircase going to the corner, and it was a EUREKA MOMENT. We both like the arrangement very much. We think we'll like that the bedroom will be more private, and it provides a nice small entryway, while keeping the stairs out of the way but visible from the living room. Yes, I can see that everyone wouldn't like it, but I think this is one of our favorite parts of the plan. I'm trying to work on an upstairs . . . but while I think I have a pretty good eye for one story things, I find myself unequal to the task of "going up". The problem is that I'm set on a 1.5 story, and I can't visualize how far everything should scoot "in". I know exactly what I want upstairs: A small seating area, two bedrooms joined by a jack-and-jill bath and good closets. And I want to keep the plumbing roughly somewhere over the kitchen (or somewhere we already have plumbing -- I want to keep it somewhat consolidated). I'm still playing with upstairs layouts, but I'm not feeling very successful at all. I suppose the best choice is to draw out my best and throw it out here. Y'all do make good suggestions, and even when I don't care for the ideas, they often make me think, which is good. Thanks, folks! I'm enjoying the ideas you're sending out.

there is a plant propogation book i have wherein the author describes his own mist system. that author has a large black coil of hose in the roof of his greenhouse so that water can be heated before reaching the mist nozzles. that's at least one vote for using warm water and keeping the cuttings reasonably warm as they root. just thought i would toss that in! lol. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted by: mosaic z8 LA (My Page) on Sun, May 11, 03 at 11:59 With such a setup you could probably root roses under mist all winter here in Louisiana. And then as an added bonus, you could save on your power bills all summer by using it to steam your veggies :) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted by: tammyinwv z6/WV (My Page) on Sun, May 11, 03 at 16:05 i have been unable to find the mist heads even within an hr from my home.Someone mentioned here they found them for .50 each.would anyone be willing to get me a couple and mail them? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted by: wild_garden virginia z6b (My Page) on Sun, May 11, 03 at 16:32 at my lowes store the mist heads where in the indoor gardening area next to the register, i doubt the people at lowes would have even know what to look for. it was with the drip irrigation supplies, as i said in the indoor gardening area next to the big outdoor area where they sell trees and things. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mist heads supply source Posted by: RoseHawke 7b AL (My Page) on Mon, May 12, 03 at 10:37 For you folks that haven't been able to find the heads locally, try going to this site: Dripworks or here's a direct link to one of the pages with some heads:Misters . I just a couple of weeks ago ordered some irrigation supplies from them and received them quite quickly. About 4 days if I remember correctly. Haven't had a chance to put it together yet, which is probably just as well as the flood we had last week would've probably washed everything down the creek ;-). I also have the Melnor timer, and it does seem a bit confusing about its ability to do a mist cycle, but what you're doing is programing it to do one cycle (on in the am; off in the pm) and punching in a choice of watering pattern, in this case the off for 10" on for 2" pattern. I believe the idea behind the pattern was/is actually to help prevent water run-off when doing overhead watering by allowing the water to soak in between the on phases. I bought this particular timer though because when I looked at it my mind said "Ah! Mist!" (heh), even though the reason I bought it at the time was to keep a new patch of zoysia sod watered until it rooted in. My batteries did last all season last year, but it was only opening that valve 4x a day for 3 weeks, and then 1x every 4 days for a couple of months. I can see where a misting pattern of opening and closing that valve many times during the day may eat batteries, but as ShamanSherpa pointed out, it's still cheaper than a $100+ misting timer! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted by: patclem z7 (or 6) TN (My Page) on Fri, May 23, 03 at 8:32 Regardless of how much water it wastes, etc, I decided to experiment with misting. I am TERRIBLE at rooting cuttings. I've tried baggies. I've tried jars. I've tried special cutting trays with plastic domes. I've had one rooted cutting out of probably 50. I had the same problem finding true super-fine mist systems in the south. None at Lowe's, none at HD. They're not popular here because they don't have the same evaporating effect they have in less humid areas of the country - they make you wet here. Here's where I found mist heads. They didn't charge me anything for shipping. They were super-good to deal with online. Web Page - Phone/Fax 888-693-0578 Local/Fax (719) 495-2266 Qty: 4; Sku: 6W401; Product: Monarch Misting Nozzles M-1; Amount: $7.40 Qty: 4; Sku: 6W519; Product: Reducing Tee for Monarch Misting Nozzles; Amount: $4.40 You have to go to Lowe's or local hardware store and get a hose adapter, timers, 1/2" PVC, PVC caps, etc. I have mine set up with 2 mist heads, and about a 6' diameter section of my grass is soaked! I don't have mine on a timer yet. Results? I don't have any yet, except none of my cuttings have turned black yet. PS - I AM NOT AFFILIATED WITH THIS BUSINESS IN ANY WAY! Here is a link that might be useful: Mist Heads -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted by: fuselighter 7/WA (My Page) on Thu, May 29, 03 at 21:41 I am so excited about the misting bed. I went out and bought all the supplies today. Total cost was about $15 (my husband had PVC and elbows left over from installing the sprinkler system). I would like to go to an intermittent system eventually, but for now I am going with continuous. The water bill is not an issue because we have an irrigation system (there is an annual fee but it is not based on usage). I set the whole thing up in about an hour. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted by: debbinard Z4CO (My Page) on Sun, Jun 1, 03 at 10:54 Shamansherpa -- I could not open your picture! I live in Colorado, it gets very warm middle of June (up to upper 90's) and stays low humidity. We are on outsidewater restrictions 2xweek, so I'm not sure this method would fly. Am wondering how visible this is, or if inside is an option under lights. At any rate, I would like to propigate some rose cuttings now (is this a good time?) My daughter in law is moving and would love some plants from a rose with sentimental value. Is the rooting hormone used just the usual or special for roses? Thanks Deb -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted by: mytrid Zone8b Florida (My Page) on Sun, Jun 1, 03 at 13:48 Deb, Maybe you could call your water extention office and see if you can get special permission, exsplain to them how little water it uses. Yes you use rooting hormone, there are many available. Dip and grow I here is supposed to be really good. I got some of the more exspensive stuff from a friend whom bought it threw rose imporium on line. But you can always use something like dip and grow. Deanna -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted by: rose_enthusiast z7 TX. (My Page) on Sun, Jun 1, 03 at 15:47 Hi there Deanna! It seems to me you've managed to help a lot of people with your invaluable info. And I would like to thank you for inspiring me to start a misting bed to root my cuttings. I have one question to add to the many others you've been getting though... What rose company is it that you get your rooting hormone from? Is it Rose Emporium or the Antique Rose Emporium? I would like to purchase this product as well, since you and this company are using this to successfully root your cuttings. Thanks Again, Carlos -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted by: mytrid Zone8b Florida (My Page) on Tue, Jun 3, 03 at 1:31 Carlos, Thank you but we should all thank AngieAnders, she is the one who did all the research and work to discover this method and then post it here for us last year! She truly diserves all the credit. I just wanted to keep any new people aware that have just started rooting this year. Best of luck all and don't forget to post your sucess! Deanna -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted by: epiphany z5b PA (My Page) on Tue, Jun 3, 03 at 9:28 I found the Arizona Mist system which is by Orbit as mentioned at Wal-Mart. It has 12' of tubing, end cap, six misting heads and hose adapter for $14.95. Of course, it is once again cold and wet here,......all of a balmy 56°. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted by: auntnana 6 TN (My Page) on Thu, Jun 5, 03 at 13:06 I ordered the misting heads mentioned above from Dripworks last year and they don't put out a fine mist as much as they do a fine spray/droplets. And even though I had a pressure regulator on there, I kept having a problem with the heads blowing off! (Their drippers work perfectly by the way so it's nothing against the company) I ordered foggers from Misty Mate this year and they put out a super fine fog. Perfect for propagation. They are a litte more expensive than the ones from Dripworks but worth it. And if you ask they will ship the misting heads for $1.50. I went to HD and bought a 10-24 tap and drill set (3.00) and drilled holes in my 1/2" cvpvc and the heads just screwed right in! I bought a Melnor timer at HD for $39 and it has 1 minute spray options so I've got it set for 1 minute every 10 minutes. Can't remember the model number but it's not the one on the HD website. I hope to finish my new propagation box soon. I built one on a stand this year so I can move it around easily. Wouldn't you know, HD has plastic sheeting made just for greenhouses that I used! It's not the real thick heavy stuff either. It's only 4mil and is crystal clear see-thru! Hopefully I'll be finished this week!

Both Ligustrum japonicum (privet) and barberries suggested above are listed invasives for most of the east coast. Invasive means that it spreads into wild areas via birds or wind and replace native plants. So I would recommend against either one. Considering your other responsibilities, the easiest maintenance is lawn because you just mow it. If you don’t feel the urgent need for gardens, and it seems you have enough on your plate without adding gardening chores, grass probably involves the least time and skill to maintain. There are no maintenance-free gardens. If you want flowers and healthy plants, proper bed preparation is important. The first thing to do is to get rid of all the weeds currently there. If you are comfortable with glyphosate, go for it. Get a soil test done through cooperative extension to see what if any improvements you should add to the soil. For instance, if you have some of those old oak leaves that have rotted, dig them in to add organic matter which will improve the soil texture, moisture-holding capacity, and some nutrients. Or if you have a pile of rotted bedding or manure from your animals add that. Make your beds a minimum of 5’-6’ front to back so there is actually room for plants and the garden looks proportionate to the building. Then mulch deeply (several inches) with a fine-textured mulch, tamping it down to keep light from getting to the soil surface. Use a deeply buried edging and add bricks on the inside edge to help keep grass from growing into the bed, but you may need to use grass-be-gone periodically or more glyphosate. Use Preen as directed on the box to prevent weed seeds from germinating. You will still need to check every couple of weeks and pull up any weeds that sprout to keep them from getting a foothold. And mulch will need to be added periodically to the surface since it breaks down. Preventing weeds is far easier than getting rid of established weeds. As far as planting, few if any plants other than annuals will bloom all season. You want an overall combination of perennial plants (both shrubs and herbaceous), including some evergreens along with some annuals that need to be replaced each season (so perhaps 2-4 times annually in your area) to provide a lot of flowers. In choosing shrubs and perennials, choose some with evergreen leaves and some with colored leaves for the times when flowering isn’t happening due to adverse weather conditions. Use a range of leaf sizes for textual interest. Even in times of no flowers, you still want the garden to look nice, and there will be times with no flowers. For me, the no flower season starts now, but in youR area it may well be the hottest time of year. Way up near the top of this thread, someone suggested getting a consultant. It need not be too expensive, and can save some potentially expensive mistakes since gardening successfully has a good learning curve. But if you don’t want to go that route, at least go to a good independent nursery with photos of the beds and ask for suggestions. Then do research, looking up the plants for the potential to be invasive, their ultimate size (tags typically give 5 year estimates), any disease issues, etc. Less variety is usually better than using one of this and one of that. Plant in sweeps or blocks of one kind of plant for more impact. You can also look around at plants that you like in gardens in your area and seem healthy. Take photos and post on the Name that Plant forum for ID. https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/namegal Generally, my area is too different from yours for good plant recommendations, but for one plant I love that is perennial and long-blooming here, but also does well in Georgia, check out the native honeysuckle Lonicera sempervirens such as Major Wheeler. Mine blooms from May until now, though in your area, I am sure that will be different. Japanese honeysuckle are invasive and so should be avoided, but this native is very attractive to hummingbirds as well as beautiful and long-blooming. It is a vine and so will need a stout support that it can twine around, but it can be pruned when it gets larger than you want.