[Ohiogirl]

Hooked up the rain barrel here in Ohio this past weekend. Rained overnight (and now). Went out at 7:30 am and rain barrel is full and the diverter is properly diverting excess water to the lower downspout! I planted my little vegetable garden yesterday and the herb and perennial/rose gardens are already in place. Now I won't have to drag the hose around the house when the dry periods come. Here in Ohio, since rain is sporadic, won't bother with a timer, will just handwater with a watering can when needed.

In our CYV in TV, will put either one or two barrels at the backyard downspout by our master bedroom - can't even see that area from the lanai or the side patio. May set that one up with a timer (or not) and soaker hoses going both ways from the barrel(s), which hopefully will take care of all the irrigation needs for the bedded areas. May only use the timer in May and September when we are in Ohio and assume that the rainy season will take care of June, July and August. We'll have a caretaker when we're gone for 5 mos., so if there's an unusual dry spell during the rainy season, can have the caretaker switch the timer back on. Feels good to know that we are both conserving water and saving money. And we did it ourselves!

We still have to dig and plant about 40 feet (finish the back wall and do one of the side walls) of landscaping. Already have about half the back wall done (3 palms and a mandevilla vine), want to extend the bedded area all the way around the CYV backyard. Need to do that anyway to reach the beds that are already planted.

Need to redo the existing irrigation system to move the grass sprayer heads . We are not confident of our abilities to do this and will either use the irrigation installer co. (can't remember which one that was at the moment) or an independent contractor. Anyone know of a good worker for this in TV?