It has been rough here :-( But worse in other parts of the state. There are fields of corn that are looking as if it is mid-oct- BUT- the ears are tiny and the plants much shorter. It is just all dried up. Beans are fairing much better. Lawns around here have been brown until about a week ago. Had I not religiously watered all of my 300+ new perennials- I am sure they would all be dead. Many others around here who have established gardens but didn't water, have basically done a lot of fall cleanup already- as many plants just dried up and died. Even many hostas, which are hard for the most part to get stressed, are a big blur of brown. There have also been a lot of leaves dropped, not necessarily changed color- but just dried up :( We are very grateful the temps have dropped down into the 80's and low 90's. It is amazing to me how my plants have taken off since the temps have went down. Even the "full" sun plants do not appreciate the weeks of 100 plus temps- even though I kept them watered. Its great to see things that were merely surviving, thriving!!!!!

Hi SimbaSue, I'm afraid I can't be any help when it comes to installing a sprinkler system. My knowledge is all aimed at the fun end of gardening, the PLANTS! I do know that underground sprinkler systems are VERY expensive, so are you sure you don't want to forgo that luxury for now? Also, I checked out the Irrigation Forum, and it looks to me like a lot of people have a lot of problems with their systems. There's a system in here at the house I bought last year, and I don't even use it in the back yard. I water by hand with sprinklers. I do use it in the front yard, but I turn it on manually only when I think it needs it. However you decide to water don't make the mistake a lot of people do and water for 10 minutes every couple days! That's the worst thing you can do for grass and almost everything else! When established, most plants will need about an inch of water a week. When you do water, water slowly and thoroughly. Water at least an inch (get a rain guage--they're cheap!). If you're watering a slope and it's running off (as it probably will do with our clay), turn off the water, wait 20 or 30 minutes and turn it back on and repeat until you've got an inch. What this does is waters the ROOTS, rather that just watering the FOLIAGE. Watering the foliage makes the humans happy---but not the plants! By watering deeply and not too often (once a week should be enough for established grass or perennials), as the surface of the soil dries, the roots grow deeper looking for the moisture that's still in the soil. This establishes large, healthy root systems which almost always means healthy, good looking plants above ground too. There are also a whole lot of Xeric perennials that will require very little supplemental watering after they are well established--usually after about the first year. Paulino's and Timberline have great Xeric Perennial sections. If you stop by Paulino's, be sure to ask for one of their perennial catalogs. It lists everything by Latin name only, but you can start to look up some of the Xeric ones in books and online and see what a great selection there is. If you want to get a really good basic perennial book (and Paulino's should carry them again this year), get the Heritage Perennials, Perennial Gardening Guide by John M. Valleau. It has lots of pictures and brief, simple descriptions with information that is unusually accurate for our high plains conditions. It's about $15. If you can't find it, ask John at the front desk for it! The reason I suggested the things I did is because of our current drought! Since you've got a blank slate to work with, if you start with a lot of xeric perennials (and consider the ornamental grasses too--they're great!), in a couple years you won't need to be using or spending a lot of money on water. For the things you want that aren't drought tolerant, group them together in beds that you'll water more frequently. If you mix the xeric and non-xeric, you'll need to water everything more! Since I'm sure you'll be putting grass in somewhere, you might want to put the non-xeric stuff near the grass areas where they can be watered along with the grass--how about a big perennial bed right in the middle of the grass?!! Don't be afraid to experiment! Half the fun of perennial gardening is the trial and error of it. Some things work--and some don't. There's always next summer! And there's always all winter to be looking at books and catalogs and planning and dreaming. I do definitely recommend using some kind of mulch around whatever you plant. I prefer small bark mulch around perennials, and I found you can get the big bags fairly cheaply at Lowes. If you prefer rock mulch, that works too (but it sure is a lot heavier to work with!). Whatever you use, you need something to help conserve the moisture and to keep the soil surface soft so the water soaks in rather than running off. And certainly don't be embarrased to be "50 and moving into your first house"!!! Just be glad that now you can "get down and dirty!" After all, some people live in apartments or condos their whole life. I'm considerably older than you, and the older I get, the more fun it is to learn new things! Oh, how I wish I had a lot as big as yours! Start looking in books and actually getting out to look at plants, and before long you'll want one or ten of each! A lot of things can be grown from seed, which can save you a lot of money, but it will take a lot longer to get a large plant. But you get to watch them while they're growing! I love to grow things from seed. It's incredible what you can get from a tiny, little seed! For this year at least you might want to consider putting in some annuals for color and to help that bare look you're going to have at a new house. Even just a few large planters or whisky barrels overflowing with annuals will help (and would be easy to water). I'm not a big annual person, but they are great for a lot of color. Have fun learning and deciding what you're gonna do, and happy gardening, Skybird

Maripo, I know. I wondered that myself. Someone gave me a little pot of English Ivy as a gift, the pot is sooo cute. I just stuck it on the front porch, and looked it up on the internet. I was truly stunned by what I saw of the forests in the south east. That's a shame! Mabey it is because the southeast doesn't get the hard cold winters that I get up north, I don't know. It's so cute, I don't want to throw it out. But I'm not planting it in the ground. It looks nice on your tree. I don't know what zone you are in, but if you get really cold long winters, mabey it isn't invasive in your area. Then again, they still sell cigeretees and alcohol, which technically aren't good for us either. I don't think Ivy would climb on a trellis, because it clings on with little "feet". A tree, a wall, a wooden fence probably yes. I don't want to give you a guilt trip, poster, I was just stunned at the poor forests in your area when I saw the pics. Good luck to you in any case.

Where are you located? Living in the Land English Ivy Ate, I can attest that virtually nothing bothers it. Unfortunately. Mites can be a problem with ivy grown indoors but rarely affects outdoor plantings. They can get some fungal leaf spots that can disfigure the foliage (odd, it's never seen it here in the fungal capitol of the US) but cutting it back hard and clearing away the debris should suffice. English ivy is an extremely tough and hardy plant. Generally the only things that cause it much distress are dry conditions in a lot of sun and cold winters in zone 6 or lower.