There is a guy a few blocks away who has an unbelievably green lawn. I would nearly guarantee that he has some elite KBG blend. In fact, I wouldn't bet against him being a member here - that is how nice it is. I recall seeing a bag of the Scotts organic fertilizer on his driveway one day as I drove by. So, in a development with about 460 homes, there are only a handful (because of the native soil conditions) that I really admire. Of those: 1) one guy just follows the Scotts program...with a lot of overseeding and attention to detail. 2) three use the "chicken" fertilizer (of those three, all are green but only one is a lawn everyone here would die for). 3) one guy uses (or at least "used", since I don't know him and I only saw the bag once on his property) the Scotts organic fertilizer Of the homes outlined above, the house where I saw the Scotts bag looked the best. But I have a feeling that there is more to it than just his fertilizer. I would guess he has an elite cultivar of seed to go along with his good organic program. That grass looks like nothing I have seen around here. It looks like the photo that Turf Toes (I think it was him) posted here.

Vrie, that's absolutely positively not Queen Elizabeth. QE is a Grandiflora-class rose, which blooms both in singles and in low-numbered clusters ...and tends to have a hybrid-tea's long-ish stems below a bloom. Your rose is blooming in higher-number clusters and the buds are on *very* short stems. My area of rose-knowledge is mostly limited to Hybrid Teas and Grandifloras (I grow about 80 varieties of them - including two Queen Elizabeth bushes), so I can't be much help about your non-HT/non-GF mystery-rose's name. All I can do is note that its bloom-color is indeed very very similar to Queen Elizabeth (which may help you in your quest) ...but it's definitely not QE. Regards, JohnReb

everyone here is so great. I hate to take up any more space when i know that there are people here just starting out who need advice. I was going to go this one last decision on my own, and i believe that i know what i want, but keep going back and forth. i need to bring these tile samples back tomorrow and place my order. they tell it will take 6 weeks for my tile to come in. EEek! 6 weeks? Anyway, i have two natural stones from sonoma and can't firmly decide which one looks best with my granite, and kitchen overall. these will be 3x6 subways. I also will have a custom blend mosaic over my stove done in small rhomboid shaped tiles. the small tile pictured, will be in the mix and it will also be ordered in molding pieces to go around the mosaic blend. It will be against the subways, so i pictured it with the tiles. I want them to blend in with very little contrast. For some reason, my photos this morning show my granite darker. it really is more of a whiter white background. i also have pictured some crackle glazed tiles that i could do. i see really awsome glazed ones here. i found a glazed color of each of the stone tiles that i'm considering. i find that the martinique, the darker stone, picks up the grays in my granite. but, the lighter cashmere may overall go better in my kitchen and with my cabinets. I just don't know. This is driving my bonkers. one minute i tell myself i know which one and put the others back into the bag, then i find myself getting them out and changing my mind again. this has got to end. thanks so much for all of the help. "

You might want to do a web search including key words of your question, along with "gardenweb" and "Landscape Design forum". While the Landscape Design forum currently has fewer professionals now, it once had quite a number of helpful (though not always tactful) pros and I learned a lot there. Since this is a design/style thing, not only do you want to find someone who listens and has the appropriate training, but you want someone whose style fits what you want. So get references and not only talk to the reference for the same type of thing you would ask on any job, but either look at some of their work in person or look at their portfolio. There are also differences between landscape architects, landscape designers, and engineers, and depending on what you want done, different folks will bring different levels and types of expertise and training to the job. Some general things to think about before you have your meeting(s): Make a list of what you want in your yard and how you want to use it, ignoring what is currently there and not there. Are you a gardener and want to grow ornamentals or vegetables? Will you do your own maintenance or will you hire real gardeners or a mow, blow, and go service? Do you have kids or pets, and if so what are their needs? What is the traffic flow in your yard and do you want to change some of this? Do you like to entertain, and for what size groups? Do you like sitting out in your yard? Do you need to have any storage (trash cans, compost, lawn mower, etc.)? What issues and problems are there, such as lack of an afternoon shaded seating area or water flow or views you want to borrow or others you want to block, etc. What is your budget, and will you be doing this all at once or in stages, will you be doing the work or do you plan to hire out the work? A good book on home landscaping will probably have more of these questions to answer. Once you have thought through and answered some of these questions, you will be more ready to evaluate whether your landscape architect is right for you. You might also want to sketch out ideas, look at other folks' yards, look at other yards and gardens on the web or in books from the library so you can bring things that appeal to the meeting. In general, hardscape needs to be done first, but is also the most expensive part of the job, followed by any soil work. The plants will be the last thing added.