I had gold heart ivy like that for a bunch of years planted in a rolled up plastic garbage bag that I hung on the side of my half-barrel water garden. I trained the vines around and around the water barrel and mine did eventually have one little vine stick to the masonary eventually (both brick and concrete), and another started running behind the barrel along the astroturf and attached to that. LOL But since goldheart is a tiny little guy, it pulls off pretty easily. This past winter, it was a bit too cold for it for too long a duration and it didn't survive, even being next to a heated water barrel (I have fish in there and I use aquarium heaters for them in winter to keep the water temp in the 50s F whenever it's teens or 20s out). Here's what it looked like a couple years ago:

Decades ago, someone planted kudzu on our farm, and on thousands of other farms throughout the American South, to combat the erosion that had resulted from generations of improper farming practices. I'm not sure of the exact year kudzu was introduced, probably ca. 1900, or possibly earlier than that. I seem to recall reading that kudzu was a star attraction at the Great 1876 Centennial in Philadelphia. At any rate, we all know that vigorous Oriental vine has swept the South during the following century. The vigor of ivy and wisteria pale in comparison to the vigor of kudzu. We fight kudzu, Japanese honeysuckle, wisteria, and ivy on a yearly basis, but, simultaneously love, enjoy, and respect these exotic vines--akebia, or violet vine, too. Gardening is a never-ending struggle. There are successes; there are failures. _C'est la vie._ Over the years, I've made my peace with these and other vines. At present, I'm allowing kudzu to have its way with the plot of ground that includes our septic tank drainage field. It grows luxuriantly and forms undulating waves of lush, large-leaved greenery for months on end, with beautiful, fragrant wisteria-like racemes of purple blossoms in late summer. This sea of green provides an above-ground canopy for the groundhog, or woodchuck, colony that lives underground in a maze of tunnels. The groundhogs are kudzu connoisseurs (sp.?) who relish the leaves as a dietary staple. A bamboo grove provides a fine backdrop to the kudzu "lawn." No mowing required.

Since this is such an old post, I'm not sure how much of the above is relevant. However, I can attest with some certainty that English ivy is very difficult to control with most herbicides, as the waxy leaf cuticle resists penetration. You either need to add an adjutant that will facilitate this or cut off all the top growth and treat with a brush killer applied to the cut stems. And it will take multiple applications. Organic herbicides, like the vinegar - orange oil added or not - will have virtually NO effect!! They only serve to dessicate the foliage and seldom are transported to the root system. Dessication of ivy will hardly have any impact on the plant - you absolutely need to kill off the root system - so save your vinegar for salad dressing! FWIW, most sources will confirm that the best way to be rid of English ivy (Hedera helix) is to remove it manually, roots and all.

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