Wellspring, thank you so much for your response. I really appreciate you taking the time to read my post and your concern regarding drainage, which I'm afraid I made sound like more of an issue than it actually is. We too were initially concerned and had several experts (an engineer, a home inspector, a survey team, and 3 contractors) examine the entire property prior to our purchase. They all agreed the small amount of run off we see after heavy rains is not in fact getting near the foundation or the house but rather staying about 2 feet away due to the grade of the ground right up against the house. I should have used better wording in my original post and for that I apologize. Another contributing factor to the run off is the condition of the ground. The front oak trees were so overgrown for so many years there were literally branches touching the ground and consequently no grass and hardly any ground cover at all growing in the front yard. As a result, the ground itself was very compact and much of the top soil had washed away. We wanted to wait until after we finished the construction on the house to start working on the yard so we are just now beginning to address the issue. From what we have been told, proper aeration along with the addition of top soil and organic matter, as well as some actual grass, should really help with the small amount of run off. As far as gardening and yard care are concerned, I am just an enthusiastic novice so I tend to believe what I am told. If this does not sound plausible to you, by all means, please let me know! Thanks again and any landscaping ideas are still welcomed.

MOndo grass, as you may know, is not a grass, but it is a great groundcover which gives a very nice green uniform appearance and is good between either formal or informal arrangements of pavers or stepstones. I assume your patio will be in shade or part shade, since dwarf mondo grass would not like full sun in Texas. Another thing to consider is your patio furniture. If you use your proposed arrangement of hard surfaces with lots of interspaces of groundcover, remember that any "feet," particularly small feet, of chairs, tables, etc will have to be situated precisely on the hard squares, and if you tend to move it around a lot you will spend time doing this situating, and you can't drag such furniture easily across the patio you describe. The bigger your squares, the easier this is to manage, or sometimes it is better to have furniture with runners or something other than small feet.

"Will AMAZON SWORD,VALS SPIRALIS, ALT REINECKII grow in gravel or will I need something else?" Yes, they all will grow in the gravel. The amazon sword feeds from the root. I think the vals. does also. The smaller gravels seem to work the best. Florite is an excellent gravel for plants. Just the right size and it has an unlimited supply of iron. Very natural looking also, it helps bring out the colors of the plants. "I tried to get plants that need the same light." All 3 would do best in 2.5W or better per gallon fluorescent lighting. Don't go too much over that or you will have to inject CO2 to keep algae down. " What fertilizer do I need?" I wouldn't add anything just yet. The fish do most of the work for you as natural ferts. Also, when plants are introduced to a new aquarium they get a slight shock. They may or may not grow real quick. They get a little die off. They stall in growth. Then they get out of that mode and grow "normally". All or none of these things can happen. So, wait it out. If the plant starts to show a sign, like thin leaves with no color, yellowing leaves, burnt looking edges etc. then treat them with the appropriate nutrient. If anything gat a fert. stick/tablet with as little to no phosphates in it (the middle number. ex: 5-1-5, the 1 represents phosphate or phosphorus). Put this near the Amazon Sword, they are heavy root feeders. "I am cycling my tank now. I bought some feeder guppies to start." I personally don't like cycling with feeder guppies. Mainly because they can be ill allready. They can carry disease because of the poor conditions they are subject to. Think about it. There are usually 100's in the tank. The water is usally cloudy from all the ammonia. Most likely there where deads in the tank when you got them. I don't even reccomend buying them as feeders because of this. I would grow my own if I kept the bigger carnivores. If they do surrvive they will multiply. Unless you don't plan on keeping them. You could always give them back to the pet store. "I have tested the water and the ammonia is coming up ever so slightly. Do I change the water at all when cycling?" When cycling with fish (another thing I don't do anymore, unless you are using live plants, which you allready stated you just got) Try to keep the ammonia under 1ppm. If it goes over that do PWC's to bring it down. When you add the live plants you may never see the ammonia level or nitrite level spike. The plants use it up if they are growing good. Some call this the "silent cycle". Other tips on plants: 1)reduce surface agitation from things like filter returns/water falls, remove bubble wands and stones. 2)Use proper lighting fluorescent or MH. Use at least 2 watts fluorescent per gallon of the tank. Color of the light also helps a little. Plants seem to get an edge from anything with a K or kelvin rating between 5000K-10000K. IMO/IME plants also look better in this lighting. The colors are more vibrant. 3) CO2 is the number one aquatic plant deficiantcy. A product called Flourish Excel by Seachem really helps alot. Stick to the dirrection on the bottle. CO2 injection is the best for them, but this stuff really helps.

Hello! This is so very kind of you! I am a newbie gardener, and I just joined Garden Web a few days ago. I was wondering if you still had any seeds left- I would really appreciate both flowers and veggies. Either way, thanks very much for your generosity. Happy Easter! Sachaa