"we are not yet interested in revealing every detail." It doesn't look like you are interested in releasing ANY details from which a person could decide if such a device is practical or not. So how could a "survey" carry any weight? You might as well say that you'll be selling magic wands.

Ouch! Pray you don't move to a house with a smaller lot :). It sounds like you are about done on your tool purchases, especially big ticket items. Stages is a good idea for drip when starting out. There are some different parts that later I found better solutions for or did not use. Corn benefits greatly from the drip. Or if you have something else that would benefit from measured watering and will be in the same configuration year to year. After you get into drip, you'll start thinking of timers and eventually move into ground moisture detection. You can easily spend thousands on the things. I ended up with a simple timer that I would have to turn on manually. It was way better than anything else I was doing and less overall hassle than the full blown set. For a 20'x50' garden it ran me about $200-300. The hard part was designing the layout so that I could isolate the section water requirements and allow for changing layouts year to year. You probably get a kick out of using all the things you bought. I hope you have a trimmer, blower and chainsaw. Some other tools I enjoy using that can cost some. I'd like to have a chipper but I just can't justify the cost for my yard. Good luck with it!

Dan, That site looks amazing, looks like I could spend hours there. Thank's a ton! Erin

You have been most helpful. I am not disagreeing with Calliope's analysis, just adding an additional term that I have discovered may be, in some cases, interchangeable. Main Entry: bod·kin Pronunciation: \Ëbäd-kÉn\ Function: noun Etymology: Middle English bodekin Date: 14th century 1 a : dagger, stiletto b : a sharp slender instrument for making holes in cloth c : an ornamental hairpin shaped like a stiletto 2 : a blunt needle with a large eye for drawing tape or ribbon through a loop or hem