wrote:

: install a sprinkler system. it takes time, but it will be automatic.
: be sure to install a water sensor which overrides watering when there
: is enough moisture. Ingrid

In the long run perhaps. Our yards is evolving and something like that
will make more sense when we are ready for final landscaping.

Right now we are only looking for one or two portable devices. We need
to cover the back yard, front lawns and parkways (little patch of grass
between the street and the sidewalk). In any event we'll always need a
small portable sprinkler for the parkway because we cannot install
anything permanent there even if we wanted to.