Wow. Interesting thread. Since this book thread has morphed into a general conversation on garden design I just wanted to share my recent experience with hiring a garden design professional. My husband, family, & friends thought I was nuts because I have been a professional floral designer most of my life, & have all that good stuff going for me: sense of proportion, balance, texture, color, etc. However, I have been gardening in containers all my life & have been able to rearrange things as they matured or changed to create pleasing compositions. When I bought my first house & it came time to plant things in the ground, I was seized with fear. All of a sudden I realized that ultimate landscape size, and the happiness of a plant in it's permanent position was critically important. The person I hired was excellent. He liked a lot of what I had done & worked from that. He suggested shapes more than specific plants, although he had a few plant suggestions. And some of his ideas surprised me. Things I wouldn't have thought of. A lot of it was based on classic English garden design even though my yard is tiny. It was such a pleasure to plant the first tree, and wake in the morning and realize not only did I see it out the living room window but I could see it from out my bedroom's french doors. He had thought of that! And having a design plan that said "deciduous tree here up to 25' high, or tall narrow conifer here up to 12' high" left my brain free to focus on the plant that would ultimately fulfill the design goal, and thrive in it's location. When I was a floral designer I had friends who were too snobby to do funeral work. As if this momentous occasion were above them. Well good design is good design, as I think several of you have pointed out, even it's resting atop a casket. So I guess what I'm saying is good design is important but also hard. Even for those of us trained in it. And the plants do matter. Without the right plant in the right spot the design doesn't come together. And even if you think you know what you're doing it's always great to have another set of eyes.

Nice pictures everyone...I'm towards the end of a small stream with pond project..I have ordered more rock..and still need to add some plants and pavers for a path back to my building..plus I have some work to do around the burn pit...realistically I will never be finished LOL...but I am aiming for next spring to finish every thing up but the small details one encounters...then just wait for the plants to mature...I did learn a huge lesson in the last week though...my water was crystal clear for 2 weeks after I moved my pond and made this one...it got cloudy for 2 days then cleared up again...It stayed that way for 2 or 3 more weeks until I made one huge mistake...I started removing the water lettuce because the cold weather was starting to set in...I removed over half of it..then 80 degree weather hit here in WV...now my water is green!..oh well you win some and you lose some...this pond is 26"-28" deep.(may increase depth next spring)..12x18...with 30' stream..3200 gph and 640 gph pump running...I have a small yard too...125x70x115 deep....I have 7 koi..2 bluegill..10 goldfish...comets..sarosa's...3 different fantails...and approximately 25 babies...that I haven't a clue what they are yet...oh yeah...bookuu snails...at least 2 frogs...and by the way...the pond was born on September 14th...2008...I will thin the fish out next year...my brother n law is a landscaper and can find happy homes for them...enjoy the pictures...which I'm sure some of you have already viewed...happy ponding!!! Dave :-)

I'm an Electrical Engineer with a strong background in Electromagnetic fields and used to design telecommunications equipment for Motorola. Plants respond favorably to the right EM fields and yields and vigor can be improved greatly by generating a simple field around the roots with either a simple battery or by pulsing the field with a flashing circuit. Bi-phasic fields work best. The voltage level must be appropriate for the plant size. I live in Hong Kong and am looking for a good supplier for liquid nutrients, pH meters and grow lights. I'll be happy to share my expertise ....

Wow!!! I'm so impressed with all of these ideas - keep them coming! I think each would work, but would make for a very different look - high contrast, traditional, MCM, etc. I shared all of these ideas with my husband and I think we're both leaning towards subway tiles in the shower - either light gray or white - and probably oversized as Nancy in Mich suggested. Each hex pattern is about 6 inches in diameter so they're quite large and we agree a larger subway would balance it out. Any ideas for grout color if we go with white subway? A light gray grout? My husband loves the idea of accenting the shower tile with black or graphite-colored trim and bullnose pieces to tie in the dark accents in the floor tile, so we'll likely do that, as well. Pricklypearcactus, we definitely want frameless glass for the shower but still waiting on our quote... scared to open that email. :) And I think brushed nickel is the winner in the fixture department, though I may throw in a little gold by way of accessories to warm things up a bit. We're still trying to decide between a few things: - Pickled wood, white or dark gray painted vanity and either floating or shaker-style - Solid white or marble-type (quartzite?) countertop - Light gray or gray-blue on the walls, but I think this depends on the other finishes. And jrueter - thanks so much for including photos. That really helped us visualize how the gray subway would look. We'd never even considered anything other than white! Williamsem - I'll be sure to post pictures of the finished product, but you'll have to be patient with us. We're buying everything now, but not installing until after Christmas. :) Thanks again all! And please do chime in with any other ideas/suggestions - you've been SO helpful!