This is an excellent question. I'll start by saying that most of us in the landscape design industry tend to see things only from our own perspectives and our own limited experiences, so you are likely going to get responses that tell you that these people to this and those people do that. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending how you look at it, in any profession (landscape design, landscape architecture, design/build, landscape contractors, landscape maintenanace, ...) there is no standard operating procedure. It is as diverse as the people who make up each component of the industry. That good news is that there is someone out there that will do exactly what you want both in terms of procedure and product. The bad news is that it might take a lot of hunting and leg work to find someone that fits. The key thing is not to get too locked down with the idea that you need only to look for someone who has the title of one of these. The truth is that this type of work is done both well and poorly by some folks in each of the described categories. You should strive for someone (or entity) that typically does what it is you are asking for (product and procedure) rather that someone who is reaching up to it or someone reaching down to it. You want your project to be typical. That means they are competent and capable and you are just as important as the next client. You might find that many LA offices might view your job as less important by comparison to others that they typically do. Although they may be great at what they do, chances are that your project is not really what they do, so that would not make them great for you. You might find an LA that typically does little projects that are not as grand as yours. That would not be good either. If you look hard enough (or just get lucky) you might find an LA that does exactly what you are asking for. Now you can substitute either "design/build" or "landscape designer" for LA in everything I just described and it is equally true. However, people exist under these titles in greater numbers giving you a larger pool to fish in. The biggest pool is the design/build contractor. S/He is often the best value because the goal is not to make a living on designing, but to use design in order to get work. This means that it will often cost less for the design and that the design process can be much more straight forward and direct since they would rather get to the point of building than racking up design hours. The project is designed to work the strengths and profitability of that company which is great if you are familiar with their work and you trust in their "brand". However, your goals might diverge from theirs a bit. The independent designer should be working for you rather than toward the goals of contractors. One problem here is that it is very difficult to know how capable the designer is at making a plan that does not leave too many variables to bidding contractors. A designer is simply someone who designs. Some have great and diverse experience both artistically, technically, graphically, and from a managerial angle. But some are people who just thought it would be cool to do landscape design. So, you really have to do your homework. My opinion is that your best bet in terms of efficiency in finding someone is to search out landscape projects in your area that are very appealing to you on similar priced homes and find out who did the work (local, capability equals your taste, probably a similar budget). People are pretty easy to talk to if you see someone outside and complement their landscape. They'll talk (probably crediting themselves for the ideas). Gush on them and find out who built it. Chances are that it will be a design/build firm simply because there are more of them. I hope this helps. Don't rule out any of them based on title. There are great capabilities in all of these. I'm an LA, by the way.

Hello. Respectfully, So coming from a housekeeper who has worked for 7 years now and is certified , yes it would take 6 to 7 hours, all those people saying it is not going to take that long is inaccurate, I do not clean homes for some the suggestions I am seeing as comments, take those with a grain of salt look at her workflow and then you look at her attention to detail ! And for the person who recommended finding ANY task for her to do so you can spend time with your son and see if she will help, I wouldn't recommend that unless you have told her upfront about any additional tasks upon hire otherwise you wont have a Housekeeper to help you when you move to a larger house in the fall. Clear expectations is key, building that relationship is key. Yes your home is small, but if you also have clutter that has to be moved and dusted, and then sanitized AND disinfected- allows for good quality control to ensure your items stay clean week after week and and they put them back in the appropriate places, you want her to do laundry because you dont feel like it then that is something specifically that needs attention and care depending on how much laundry you have, if you have a certain way you want it put away and giving it the proper time to dry other wise in 5 hours or less in addition to cleaning you will be getting back wrinkled laundry or laundry not washed or dried properly and that will be a problem and she has to figure out where your things are, moving furniture to clean behind them and around them and put them back, and anything else you would like done must be told upfront not after they have begun cleaning it will cause frustration later down the road when you add more tasks on that she may or may not been hired for. Those hours are sufficient because she is a first time Housekeeper in YOUR home unless you personally know her it will take that much time starting out to get your home organized as possible and then the transition for her will be smooth and she will stay longer in the future, especially if you plan on moving to a bigger home, those hours are a good foundation to build from in your next home. They will look at that if the house is larger, I am sure you wouldnt expect less time for let's say a farm house with 3 to 4 bedrooms and a sun porch that needs cleaning or an entire deck or patio that wraps around the house. The size of a house never determines the QUALITY of work you will receive if a person is focusing continuously on the quantity of the homes items. Just some tips to help you. God bless and take care.

Thanks! I do have a crock-pot and am going to check out some new recipies for it online! I was working full-time until this school year. It just got to be too much for me and the kids! We were all miserable! So dh and I had many discussions and agreed that it would be better if I did not work. After summer was over I realized how much we could really use more money! So, I have been working part-time. I work at my ss's school in the mornings while he is in half-day kindergarten and I get off work when he is done with school for the day. On school holidays I babysit one of my other sons friends for extra cash. All in all it is so much less stressful than last year was when I worked full-time. And my husband does not like his shift either, when jobs open up on other shifts he will be applying for them. But he can't leave his job and find a new one. He has been there a few years and loves what he does there. He gets good raises and makes good money there, and the health insurance and benefits are awesome! Even my son is able to be on his health insurance. I just find myself kind of lonely at times. And I just am not able to stay up and see him most nights. I get up at 6am every day and by the time he gets home I am exhausted if I am even still awake! I really miss him and the time we used to have together. We do little things like have "date nights" once a month on one of his days off. We have lunch together with ss each day after me and ss get home and before he leaves for work. It is just so hard. And I try not to complain much to him because I know it is just as hard on him because he wants to be at home more. He does request days off on occasion just so we all get extra time together and with the kids. And on weekends he gets up early and makes it to all the kids games and events with us. I was just looking for some feedback from others who have been in this situation and how they deal.

I just started a day shift after several years of working graveyard. I agree with good36 - sleeping well was the key to good job performance. What worked best for me was to stay awake after my shift. I avoided caffeine and spent the morning running errands, doing housework and making dinner for DH. Then I'd sleep like a rock from 2pm to 10pm. I usually kept the same sleep schedule on my 2 days off. DH HATED it. It definitely had a negative impact on our relationship. I didn't spend much time with my girlfriends either. When I first started working nights, I would skip sleep to do something with the girls or DH. It would take me several days to recover and get back into my routine. As the years went by, I found myself choosing sleep over human contact more and more often. I liked working nights and thought I was fine. But, now that I have worked days for several months, I realize that I was really quite irritable and hermit-like during the overnight years.