Definitely using CRF pellets is a good idea -- it provides you with a "baseline" of continuous release fertilizer for your area. That way you don't have to fertilize with *every* watering the entire year. Right now HD (big box store) is eliminating their Dynamite CRF stock here in Fresno and down south. You might check out the clearance section the next time your at an HD. About the grow bags -- there was one piece of research I reviewed and confirmed with a member of another forum that I trust that stated punching holes in any container does very little for air root pruning. The concept of air root pruning is not a gimmick, it is legit but the containers have to be specially made to force roots to grow toward to hole. When you punch a side hole into a container, many of the roots will simply "turn to avoid" the hole. In reality, the soil in front of the hole is drying out faster than the soil on the sides of the hole -- so the roots will grow toward the most favorable conditions: where air + moisture exist. Special root pruning containers are either entirely fabric containers or (poly/plastic) mold designed with special indentations forcing (nearly) every root toward a hole. They are expensive, but the air pots you were reviewing in the other post were very reasonable for large container sizes as they can be purchased individual at retail locations. You probably already know this since you did the research also, but supposedly the Rootmaker brand works well. The holes however do provide added beneficial aeration to the root zone, but that's different than root pruning. Here is a link that might be useful: Link to GW post about topic

We've spent at least 6-7 months trying to figure out the whole house plan thing. We had one builder who had his own draftsman, so I took a floor plan from the internet and made some changes, but kept the square footage where he said it needed to be to get the price range we needed. Then he gave it to his draftsman who took FOREVER drawing up plans. Then our builder took the plans and priced them and they were WAY over budget, so we simplified things, had them changed, our builder priced it and it was still over budget. We spend 7 months of this, waiting until the builder and draftsman had time to get to our project and it never worked. We finally gave up and I emailed a ton of builders in the area with our desired floor plan and budget and asked if any of them could get us what we were looking for. I got a few responses and we followed up. Some wanted us to go to pay for a draftsman and get the plans drawn up so they could price it and we said no way were we going down that road again. (I think if we hadn't just gone through what we had gone through then we probably would have done this. You just want your builder to have a LOT of experience so they can tell you what will get you in your budget as you are drawing the plans up...but we were burnt out and about to give up) I finally was talking to my sons 1st grade teacher one day and we happened to get on the topic and she had had her house built by a builder and highly recommended him. So we went to him with our house plan and desired elevation (it was just the 1st floor b/c I didn't care how the 2nd floor was arranged) He took 2 weeks, came back with a 1st floor plan that had everything we wanted but in a much more efficient layout and even the room sizes we wanted (I still don't know how he did that). He walked us through the layout, told us what was included, took us to a house he was building to give us an example, took us to another completed house to give us an idea how the outside would look and even though the cost was a little over budget we decided to do it b/c it gave us everything we wanted and after being through what we had been through we knew it was a fair deal. He also has a great reputation around here. So now we have our land under contract. He he's had a month to draw and finalize plans so we can submit it to the bank. (we are in the final week and a half, we haven't seen the finalized plans but he said he can do it and b/c of his reputation in the area we believe him) I haven't needed too much time to nail down all the details b/c I've been thinking about doing this for years and I've been pinning (love pinterest) everything I like. I think I have almost everything picked out even though it's not all needed now but I want to let him know everything so there aren't any surprises. I'll definitely be posting more updates as we go along :)

I think I wrote in an earlier post to you that you need to be careful about the costs of additions -- they are expensive! That was about the construction cost, not the architect's fee. I cannot say how much it should or might be but I can say that we paid $5,000 for just a structural engineer's work and towards the upper end of the range you set out for the architect -- for a 2-story addition. I'm sure there is more than one way to accomplish all of this but here's one way. First, you shop around for an architect, the same way you would for anybody else: interview, check references, look at portfolios. While I personally would not recommend design/build firms you do want to make sure that the architect you hire really has a firm grasp on construction costs. You seek to have something that could be called "phase I" drawings or "conceptual drawings" or something similar to that. These are just the ideas -- more than one but probably less than four -- and that costs you maybe 1-3 thousand. (I'm sure that if my range is wrong someone will correct me.) Once you have that, then you can obtain an estimate on the cost of construction. This is just an estimate, it's not based on what actual ppliances, flooring, etc. you will have. It is not a firm bid. Nobody is promising that this estimate is accurate. This is where things can also go very wrong. The estimate may be way lower than the actual costs will be. This is where you have to throw away your desire to hear Low Numbers and Demand that your architect give you the really bad news. If you read mightyanvil's comments it appears that he is suggesting that you have a GC involved during this whole process whose job it is to keep an eye on the costs on a consulting basis. (I think this is the idea of hiring an expert on costs to be involved which costs you more up front but keeps you out of trouble later. I have no experience with this.) If your architect doesn't know enough about construction costs he or she will be useless to you at this critical stage because this is where you decide whether you want to plunge in and hire the architect to enter the really expensive part and you need to know what the construction costs are going to be before you make this investment. Now, perhaps your addition isn't at all complicated and you just need drawings, not really anything that's the least bit of design work...I have no experience here either but perhaps someone else can advise you.

[Warning: Stream of Consciousness Craziness Ahead] Americans, as a whole, seem to prefer the comfort of standardization and homogeneity. The popularity of chain restaurants, national hotels, and production builders is an expression of that comfort. Perhaps it's partly because Americans lack these things, ethnically ("Melting Pot," anyone?), that we seek them out, in attempt to gain what other nations around the world have -- a distinct, easily-identifiable culture and sense of self. We are too large, geographically and socially, to successfully embrace a "standard" style of anything, really. For example, our language dialects differ from region to region, yet how many news anchors, television series actors, or anyone else designed for popular consumption, speaks in anything other than a "standard non-accent"? (Whatever the heck that actually is???? lol) Conformity is expected and reinforced in our formal educational institutions, from daycares all the way up through universities. It is present in our workplaces (dress codes, name badges, cubicles, etc.) in the cars we drive (much less selection for a family with more than 5 members), and in the homes we live in (municipalities allowing large developers to buy tracts of land and cookie cutter them up). We are stigmatized for breaking the standard mold... Life is more complicated, the more you differ from the mainstream sameness. So, when folks set out to buy or build a house -- a huge financial undertaking; the single largest for most of us -- the rational choice is the one that doesn't stand out. We are conditioned from young ages to avoid anything that makes us markedly different. Most people don't want to be "weird." There are costs to being weird, not all of them economic, but none as measurable. It's just too risky. So here is a question: Has the speed of information dissemination increasing led to homogenization of American home styles? Beginning with the Sears kit home, and culminating with modern production builds, things have gotten more and more "the same" from coast to coast. I'm not certain we'll ever really know the answer to this question, because the United States has such a short history; we haven't really been around that long. Most of our existence has been in "high speed information" times. It was much easier to develop regional styles prior to the invention of the printing press, a luxury we have never had, let alone prior to the internet. Second question: Is this less noticeable in the custom home market? Do people who are building a home that is not in a development or at least not part of a production model tend more often to choose a regional style? Sadly, not around here. :-( Not that I've noticed, anyway. It's possible I'm not looking in the right neighborhoods, but price point doesn't seem to affect my inability to find vernacular architecture. Third question (Inspired by bpath's post of that lovely 1930's gem this AM): If so many of us fawn over historical styles and house, why do we not make an effort to build anything with near the charm? Why so many CAD-designed, uncategorizable hodge-podge "transitional" stock plans, and so few Dutch Colonials, Dog Trots, Georgians, etc? I don't think "so many of us" fawn over historical styles... I think a very select subset of GardenWeb folks do. ;-) For reasons I ranted on, earlier in my post, lol. It doesn't help that even around the forums here, people caution others to avoid "killing resale," further promoting conformity. America's contributions to the world are largely technology-based -- not art-based -- where mass production and making things more widely available reign supreme. Making things pretty doesn't seem to be a national past time, and those who value beauty over function are considered foolish.