Why is it that on this forum in particular you always get two snotty answers for every helpful one? Or hardly any answers at all. I was about to start a post asking what the designers on this site consider an appropriate request and something they would respond to. I posted a request asking for feedback and only two people were so kind as to respond (they have my heartfelt appreciation!). PS: cdjr. I have been totally unsuccessful at getting the software you suggested to install - I tried it on my home computer and work computer and couldn't get it to work either time. Is there anything special you remember doing?

Just purchased a small property about an hour south of San Francisco. The 20 x 30 section which leads from the quiet street to the front door is very flat so it's void of any personality right now. It's also void of all vegetation except for a pretty midsized Japanese maple set to one side. I plan to cover the entire area with cobble stone/paver material, 3Â high wrought iron fencing (height strictly controlled by the local regulations); all reminiscent of a French courtyard/patio. I hope to be allowed an arbor at one corner where the gate will be located. This patio will be utilized daily for reading, dining, socializing, etc. I dream of color, blossoms, fanciful whimsy. My blood pressure rises when I am forced to experience structure and predictability. IÂm having difficulty getting past the issue of the cityÂs rules, and coping with a dreary flat setting. I had hoped to use several wrought iron screens as supports for plants. My neighbors assure me that IÂd have to place them very close to the house. I canÂt possibly have left anything out. Any thoughts? P.S. Where, oh, where can I purchase wrought iron or AKA tree grates west of Michigan? Thx

Buford, that is quite a transformation! I think you definitely got your money's worth! And Steve, that's funny.....but I can see a number of front yards in our neighbourhood with just that scenario. Maybe not with roses, but other plants. I have thought of the idea of a landscape designer to have a look at our place. It's a difficult location, it's on a slope, and the grade is steep in some places. But what has stopped me so far? 1. My yard is a sanctuary where I keep myself involved and busy. I always have to have a project active at all times. For example, I just completed an arbour early this year. Installed flagstone paving. Put in a shed. Cleared some climbers. Got rid of topiary dwarf cedars. Etc. Next projects - putting in paving behind the garage, installing water reservoirs, reroof the green house. Those are the things I enjoy and those are the projects that keep me going. I simply can't fathom the idea of having someone else take the pleasure of the thinking and conceiving and labour for me. It's like a child paying someone else big bucks to snatch the candies out of his/her very own hands! 2. My yard is a laboratory of continuous experimentation. I am a restless gardener. I find myself constantly doing "something" to the yard - including ripping up something and implementing somethng new in it's place. I can't imagine paying thousands of dollars to have someone else design and landscape the property - because I know that in the years to come, I will find myself systematically dimantling the very work that I paid big bucks for. 3. I am a plantaholic - a plant hoarder. My backyard is more of an arboretum than a garden. I will probably go into deep depression if any landscape designer should come up with a scheme that is going to mean losing some of the plants. On the other hand, I have many friends who simply are not into the kind of gardening stuff that I do. For them, the somewhat haphazard style of our property is simply not their cup of tea. They want something that looks good, without having to take the time out of their busy schedule to either design or implement landscape plans. Almost all who have used landscape designers and landscape contractors have been happy with the result. The only thing they uniformly find hard to swallow is the cost involved in getting a landscape scheme designed and implemented. And lets give kudos to the landscape designers - good designers can make a huge difference to the final outcome. Think of all the factors that they have to consider - color, texture, line, form and scales, and the principles of unity, balance, transition, rhythm, proportion, etc. And then they have to unify function with style. I have been reading Robin Willams' books on garden design, but I still have difficulty looking 10 feet beyond my immediate surrounding - let alone come up with a master scheme for the whole yard!

Since the fees associated with a professional landscape design are one of the least expensive aspects of the entire process, the perceived savings with using a "free" design are minimal. And while I acknowledge I am coming at it from a professional viewpoint, this is NOT the area where I would be looking to economize. It is the quality and site-appropriateness and personalized aspect of the design that makes the distinction to the landscape. The primary con in my opinion - and it's a major one - is there is NO site evaluation. The assumption is made with these designs is that the site is level (or reasonably so) and basic in its configuration, there are no issues regarding privacy or screening or focusing/directing of views, no consideration of soil quality or drainage or how rain water flows across the property, no factoring in of the house footprint or how the landscape interacts with the house (or any other structures), how light conditions, weather or prevailing winds may affect the landscape, how the 'proposed' landscape interfaces with the surrounding neighborhood, what zoning or HOA issues may impact the design and that the property is a complete blank slate - no existing plants to be considered or conserved. As a practicing landscape designer, I can say without qualification that every site is unique. Even in newer developments where there is an overwhelming sense of uniformity, each site will be somewhat different from the others, often in ways that are not readily apparent at first glance. The most successful designs will come from an acknowledgement and interpretation of that uniqueness and that cannot be achieved without visually seeing and evaluating the property. I guess if you have a basic, flat, rectangular cookie cutter-type lot with a cookie cutter-type house, then a cookie cutter-type landscape design could be superimposed on it but IMO, it's a lot like fitting a square peg into a round hole.