Nandina, I think your advice is fantastic, and it rings true to me. I have been casually working at a quality greenhouse/nursery near me for the past 9 years. About 4 years ago, when my son started school, I decided I wanted to turn what was previously a hobby into my next career (I had my son at 40). Not being sure where to begin, I started by getting my Master Gardener Certificate, which was a great program that I highly recommend. I learned a lot, made some great connections, and truly enjoy the volunteer work I do that is associated with keeping that certification. With that, I did just as you suggested--became a Garden Consultant. I kept on working at the nursery, and did the consultant gigs on the side, and worked hard not to create a conflict of interest, since the nursery has a full-scale design operation. In addition, I have developed a pretty good business as a public speaker, giving presentations to local garden clubs on a regular basis. The next step, after some research and reflection, I enrolled in the Horticulture/Garden Design Certificate program at the Chicago Botanic Gardens. My degree was in theater design, so I had a lot of the design background (ie. technical drawing, elevations, design concepts). I'm not done with that yet, but at the end of this year, the business I've been working for all this time invited me to join their Design group. I'm thrilled with that. I love that I will be working with an established business that has the crews, the equipment, and a full selection of plant material. If I were younger, maybe I'd be itching to set out on my own. But, for me, this is the perfect path. Finally, I'll mention to the OP that one of the other options that was open to me was to work at the CBG, with pretty good prospects at working my way up to a Horticulturist position there, which is another great way to get some great hands-on experience and build some "street cred." Thanks for this post, I've enjoyed reading everyone's advice!

Impossible to say what the problem is without being on site and even then it's difficult. If I take the words "brown" and "leaves" I'm going to be thinking tannins. AC can remove tannins but it's far from easy. Easier imo is to net or vacuum out the leaves and keep up with that and do water changes to remove the current tannins. But I've many cases where the owner said "brown" and it wasn't tannins but just a build up of dead organic suspended in the water. I would call it more of a grey, but brown would fit if you haven't seen a lot of ponds. It's a much more common issue, so if I were a betting man my money would be there. Easiest fix is the same for tannins. Remove organic matter (the source) and water changes to remove the suspended matter. There are filters for removing suspended matter, such as fabric filters and sand filters. How effective these are is dependent on the matter itself, so these are hit and miss. Flocculent can be used to removed suspended matter. Sellers make them sound easy, but the actual process is too complex for most people. Certainly not dump it in and walk way. I wouldn't be mad at your installer, the second filter is a crappy bio filter and even good bio filters don't fix tannins or suspended matter. I would call your "education" at the pond store indoctrination. Stuff in a bottle can have short term effects, but long term rarely does much good. Normally the cause has to be fixed. But all ponds are different. The lava rock in the skimmer is submerged media, and pretty poor media at that for such a small space imo. Again, its a bio filter, little effect on your issues and especially such a small amount. Lava rock in a Trickle Tower is 10-30 times better as a bio filter. So if you really wanted to add lava rock I suggest Googling "Trickle Tower". Super cheap and easy to make. Whether or not 60-100 lbs of lava rock will damage your filter is anyone's guess but I wouldn't care for the odds.

Your not going to make a decent salary working for someone else. The horticulture industry is basically a blue collar level of worker or retail which of course does not pay like something requiring high level skills like computers. The problem with horticulture is that there is too much free information available out there for people to research and come up with their own solutions. If you have a passion for plants, fine, but how do you leverage your future knowledge of plants (i.e. a degree in Horticulture or Landscape Design). Plus, there are a lot of Master Gardeners out there who do not charge money for their knowledge. My advice is take an entrepreneurial approach rather than focusing on employment. Think of something within the industry that is a niche that you could become an expert in. By coming up with a business idea, you dont have to worry about not having the experience to get a job, or have credible design experience if you have never designed a residential landscape. Believe me, just having a degree does not make you a decent designer. You may have book knowledge of plants, etc. but no field experience or learning what works in different spaces. There is a big difference between horticulture and say landscape design. Yes, landscapes do contain plants, but there is much more to a landscape than the plant material. The hardcape areas including patios, walls, fencing, driveways, gazebos, outdoor kitchens, waterfeatures, etc. all must be designed in a cohesive manner. The softscape, primarily the plants and ground covers that surround the hardscape are basically secondary. You must have knowledge and design ability in all aspects of landscaping to be a landscape designer. So dont focus on horticulture alone. If being your own boss turns you off because its too risky you're not going to be able to switch careers and make as much money as you do now. The "green industry" does not pay well unless you are something like a branch manager for a large landscape company. The only jobs that pay decent wages are ones that you will need years of experience. A CC degree alone is not enough. While working at a botanical garden may seem romantic if you like being around plants, people volunteer to do that so dont expect to receive a decent wage. Instead, get certified or specialize in a type of niche and set yourself apart from everyone else who loves plants: Certified Nurseryman Certified Arborist Certified Irrigation Auditor Certified Lawncare Specialist Water Conservation Specialist who uses primarily native plants, low water irrigation systems, rainwater catchment systems, i.e. Sustainable Landscaping -- which is the buzz word of the decade.

Keely, I can see all the experiences and completely opposite ideas that come from those experiences, voiced here. IMO, I feel like you can always have a conversation with your Architect and if they are responsive in a way that fits you, proceed with care. For me, I searched and looked at hundreds of homes, magazines and books for what really felt good to me, and ran it past my husband too! I then took a printer paper sized house plan that I found online, to my architect ( I'll call him Joe) and said, I really like the placement of the bedrooms, open kitchen and living room and walk out basement. I sat down with Joe and named off some of my needs, alot of wants and many hopes. We talked alot about doorways and getting old. We talked about stairs and views. We also talked about expenses and how do I get electric, water and sanitation to the middle of a grassland pasture. So, after leaving him a huge list, he let me add more later thankfully, He came up with a floorplan. It was good but I decided my very dirty farmer of a husband needed his own mudroom, which is pretty much a bathroom, closet and laundry room in one. He needed his own entry too. We tweaked my original floor plan and pretty much got everything I felt would make life sweet as we grow into retirement. We have a pretty good budget to work with but I still pulled back because we all know it always cost more in the end then expected. ~~~ that's how I did it and Joe is still helpful and seems friendly when I call. And lucky for me, my builder ALWAYS tells me no question is dumb. I can ask anything. I'm sure I have tested his patience, but that's what I'm paying him for my husband tells me. I feel like it's better to question things on the front end, than to wait until a bunch a cash and time is spent.