I feel for you ... you're right it is a time to get excited and it is so hard to do that with the drought.

I think the BEST you can expect is to get a 30 day pass to water and that is if you have some professional work down (like the sod). There was a small article in the paper a week ago that the previously expected drier than normal winter/spring is still ... expected. Plan accordingly: soaker hoses, water collection/containment systems, etc.

I know you know differently, but people see that we're getting rain and they think we're pulling out of it. But we still getting less than usual. A statistic in the paper today said that it would take 29 YEARS for "Lake Lanier to fill at this rate" (see page D3). I don't know if they mean to fill from zero or from this point to full??!

Don't skimp on the mulch.

if your budget allows,i go to walmart and buy water for 33cents a gallon.that might help with installation,but i don't know about long term.surely this drought will be over soon.LOL

Boy, don't we all need that crystal ball. If you can't plant, though, you can always lay out your design with mulch and play with your outlines, which is fun. You can then till it in and cover with more mulch, which is a lot less fun but gives you a nice feeling of accomplishing something important. No desert but a chocolate cake waiting for the roses to be piped on.

Hope you have great success with your new garden!
I am not counting on the total outdoor watering ban in N GA being lifted during the entire year of 2008. USACE is still draining Lanier so that the sturgeon in the Gulf can swim upstream to spawn in the Apalachicola River. I guess they enjoy our drinking water as much as we do!

The Lake level today is 19½ ft. below full summer pool level and is expected to drop another foot during the next 4 weeks. Meantime, they are refilling the downstream lakes, West Point & WF George(which was never very low during all of last year). Lake Allatoona is 17 ft. below full summer pool, but it's watershed area is about the same as Lanier's (1040 sq. mi.)and the lake's water volume is ¼ the amount in Lanier, so it can refill 4 times quicker.
To refill Lanier would require 18 in. of rainfall over the entire 665,600 acre watershed, with every drop flowing into the lake and none being released or evaporated!
It will probably require normal annual rainfall of 50 inches over the entire ACF watershed for at least one year to bring the lake level back up to average levels (5 ft. below full summer pool).
I don't believe the DNR/EPD will relax the water restrictions until that happens. MHO :I'm considering a holding pond/with liner, and diverting runoff from my backyard hillside into it. With rainbarrels, pails, buckets, pots, wheelbarrows and anything else that will hold water, I hope to keep most of my plants alive, Assuming we will have some rain during the year!
Everything is already mulched, will just have to replenish, where necessary
Rb

Good luck with the new house and garden! I think we are all hoping for a wet spring. And rest of the year. I remembered the pictures from your current garden that you shared some time ago. The person buying that garden (and the house!) is one lucky devil! You sure have done a beautiful job there. Starting from scratch must be exciting, as well as frustrating with all the restrictions. Maybe you can do some hardscaping along with your mulching. At least rocks don't need water. In the meantime, you'll probably be able to water for 30 days, and then you'll be on bucket duty. Good luck.