Hi Nanzey, The system sounds great. There are dripper emitters that vary in amounts and even adjustable ones to match the amount of water to each plant. You can check how much water you are supplying to all the plants by measuring the water level drop in the 5-gal bucket and calculate the volume then convert it to gallons. You can measure the flow of the pump by volume divide by time the timer was on. Your emitter flow is measured in (Gal per hour). Your total emitter flow needs to be less than the total flow from your pump minus 10%. Aloha.

johnfromperrycopa: What a great idea to use the hose! and yes, I agree about not runing vines up the columns. I read in an article on bhg that suggested doing that, but when I messed around with it on photoshop yesterday it looked awful. Yes, the long step is like a landing. And yes the tree on the left is alive, The tree on the right with green leaves is a Magnolia and the one in the front of it holds onto its old leaves until feb/march (or so my neighbor tells me). The tree you see down the driveway is a pine. (I took this picture a few days ago on Jan. 5, so it's a winter picture). I love the idea of a Japanese Maple. Sure it's on the expensive side, but I've got five years to enjoy it! Thanks so much for your thoughts. It's kind of like what I was thinking, only way better. mactac: thanks for the plant suggestions. I looked up the leadwort and it looks beautiful! It would also go very well with my large container plants (I have purple cordlylines as the tall spiky plant) I probably couldn't use the evergreen in the backyard . . . there are so many trees back there I've got to consider taking some out. :( Do you, (or anyone) know somewhere I could maybe "donate" them? Do people do that? I don't really like the evergreens, but my trash could be someone else's treasure . . . I also like the idea of using some annuals. Thanks to my two-year old and his love of the backyard, I'm afraid most of my gardening is going to have to be in the front yard this year, so that'd give me a chance to play while I'm waiting for the perenials/bushes/etc. to grow. Thanks again to you both for your thoughtful suggestions. It helps make the whole process less intimidating and more fun.

I was using a combination of the soaker hoses and 1/4" drip that had small holes. I had hoped that the vacuum on top would draw air bubbles up. When I tried to put holes in the bottles, they drained way too fast. It worked a little better with a rigid bottle. But there were still problems with controlling flow. I also tried having just a normal bottle with a couple pinholes in the bottom and trying to control flow by loosening the cap. I either got no flow once the bottle collapsed, or emptying a 2 liter bottle in a couple hours, when I was aiming for a couple days. If I tried this again, I would try using one large container, then find a better way to put a hose into it, and use a water timer. Then have all the individual containers fed by a single source. Probably a lot closer to Nancey's. But I'm thinking self-watering containers will be my plan for the future. I'll have to drag tons of water to the balcony anyways, but not having to figure out watering evenly will help.

Rstarr, You have a good grasp of what you need so I can tell you have done some research before posting. Just some suggestions. Place a vacuum breaker on your hose bibs before anything else. It is required by most water municipalities and protects yours and others water from contamination. Place a water pressure gauge on the hose bib and read your house pressure. Measure your flow rate by timing how long a 5-gallon bucket takes to fill(gallons per minute or gpm) Your emitters are rated in gpm or gph. you will know how many emitters you can handle for your flow rate. I don't know your hardscape situation without a picture but I would use a Y after the VB and run a 1/2" pvc underground with a hose bib fitting at the end to your garden plot and go from there. Small pipes lose more pressure along its length and experience higher water velocity for the same pressure and make more noise. 3/4" pipe is even better to the garden. Garden hoses will leak or burst over time as a supply line if kept pressurized. They tend to burst when you go on vacation and flood your neighbors for days. Let us know what your pressure and flow rate are. Aloha