The nutes are not just available when you water. What happens when you water is that the nutrient ions stick to the container medium like balloons to a sweater. So even when you are done watering, there are ions available to the plant. When you water again with plain water, you pull some of them off but some still remain. If you raise the pH too much, those remaining ions will be unavailable. With a pH of 8.5, I would knock it down at least a little bit.

I suppose the questions that should be asked are how permanent the garden is, how large it is, and whether you want a long-term or short-term water source. If the house next to the garden is truly & completely vacant (no squatters), you might try contacting the owner, to see if the water can be turned on. If you don't know who the owner is, you should be able to find out through City Hall. Provided that you are willing to pay for the water, your chances are probably good. I once made a similar deal, to keep a property clean & mowed in exchange for water. The owner may be happy to have some one keeping an eye on the property. If the house is truly abandoned or condemned, you may be able to make a deal directly with the water utility, or with the city... perhaps in exchange for property upkeep. It's possible that if your garden is in an area designated for urban improvement, and your garden beautifies the neighborhood, the city might even give you the water for free. Tell them it's good PR. ;-) Barring that, you might want to make a water wagon, which you can fill at your house & pull to the garden. This could be a converted 55 gallon barrel as mentioned above (or several linked together with pipes), or a large plastic tank. You can find large tanks suitable for this purpose at farm supply stores, or contact a stable to ask for a local source. If you build a water wagon, be sure that the wheels & axles are strong enough to support the weight of the water. Each gallon weighs 8 1/3 pounds... so a full 55-gallon drum would weigh over 450 pounds. Regardless of the water source, I agree that mulch will reduce the need to water. Compost or shredded leaves would be best; also grass clippings, provided that they have not been treated with chemicals. Contact a local lawn/landscape company, they might give you all the grass clippings you need for free, rather than pay to dump them. Marsh hay (best) or straw (not as good) can also be used, if you can find an economical source. All of these materials provide food for worms, and can be turned in the following year to enrich the soil. Wood chips would work also, but they they break down too slowly to turn under, so they would need to be raked off the garden each year before digging or tilling. And while any mulch can harbor unwanted bugs, wood chips can be especially troublesome, IMO. Newspaper would work, but it can be unsightly, and can blow around in a strong wind. If you want to stay in the good graces of the City & your neighbors, it might not be the best choice. To both retain water & discourage weeds, you could use landscape mulch. The rolls of black fabric are best for this purpose, since they allow the least light to pass through. This would be the last option I would recommend, since it does nothing to improve your soil.

Melissa, It is very easy and very cheap to take a PVC water line out to the areas of the yard where you need a faucet. That way you can hook the hose up in different parts of the yard. The task seems daunting if you have never done it before, but if you ask someone in a plumbing store they can show you how easy it is. I have 3 different faucets that I put in a couple of years ago and they really make life easier. I plan on putting in a couple more pretty soon but haven't had the time yet. You would have to rent a ditch witch to dig the trench to lay the PVC in but they are not expensive to rent. I live on 2 acres and have plants in about 7 different areas, pretty much spanning the property on all 4 sides and in between. I have drip irrigation on all of those plants. It's really 7 different drip systems. That way I just drag the hose to the section I want watered and hook it up and turn it on. Some of the sections are established now and only get watered once or twice a year. But it's nice to be able to hook the hose to the drip system and then go into the house where the air conditioning is! It doesn't cost that much if you buy the right parts to begin with. If money is really tight then just do the drip for the areas you will be watering the most often this summer. Then next summer you may have a different area that gets the most water and you can buy a new system for that area or add on to the old one. Rosefolly, If the parts were coming apart then you bought the wrong brand. I've bought almost every brand and some of them are very good and some are VERY BAD. Can I recomend a product on here or is it against the rules? I guess I'll recomend anyway. Mr. Landscaper brand is the best for 1/2" tubing and the connectors that hook the 1/2" tubing together. Mr. Landscaper is also best for the 1/4" tubing. DIG brand is the best for the Pressure Compensating drippers. They also sell the connectors for the 1/4" tubing. Around here Lowe's sells Mr. Landscaper and Home Depot sells DIG. The DIG products are much cheaper if bought on line. I can promise you that Mr. Landscaper tubing will not allow the drippers or connectors to pop off! Email me if you have any questions about that. Carrie

Todd, Man you are doing the hard stuff. Two ibuprofen is better. Here is the hydraulics. Approximately 0.5 psi for every foot of elevation the water level is from the garden surface. For example if the height difference is 10 feet you will experience 5 psi at the garden outlet pipe. The pressure will decrease as the height of the water level decreases. In low pressure water distribution pipe sizes need to be bigger because your flow velocity will be low. See what flow your system will deliver by filling a 5 gallon bucket up and timing the fill. Do it several times and average the gallons per minute. You will now know how long it will take to deliver a certain amount of water to a zone. At least you won't need pressure regulators but probably a filter screen if your going with drip or soaker hoses. Think about pvc with holes drilled into it at what ever spacing you need(I can help you with this). You need to calculate the usage flow rate of the drip tubing or soaker hose to plan correctly for even distribution. Who will coordinate the water regime for the garden? Talk to a local landscaper to help you and you will advertise his name in the garden. Trial and error is a way of learning life. Aloha