Wow! Looks like the grass isn't the only thing that's green on this thread. I'm not a garden snob- though I do have a BLA from a highly regarded Landscape Architecture program. I think it looks fine. There is room for all different landscape styles and designs. It's all about individual taste. There isn't just one 'right' way to design and I'm not arrogant enough to say that my style is the only style or right style. I love the freeform and curving lines. The brick is very much in the Southern style. Ignore the critics. You've got some saying it isn't 'southern' enough and others complaining because you didn't use all native plants. It looks beautiful and with crisp, clean well maintained edges. My dh would love it because that's his style. I'm a little more wild and freeform so our yard has to be a compromise with both our tastes. You can always add more flowers etc. to the beds someday if you choose. Your garden has great 'bones' which is the big thing missing in most landscapes these days. Without a good bone structure, the clothes (flowers and smaller plants) will never 'hang' right- never look quite good enough. Be proud of it, it's pretty.

I'm glad that you took the time to complete the story. It really points out a lot to people who are thinking about taking on a project. I think the most important thing that it points out is that is the effort you put into it from the get go and with the follow through. You showed a lot of people that you can't just pick a name out of the phone book and turn it over to them and wait for perfection. There is a certain amount of work locating a designer or LA who you feel is going to be able to do a good job AND be able to work with you. That is not an easy task and sometimes you have to settle for less than the ideal candidate for one reason or another. Sometimes it is price and other times it is availability. After that you have to get it built. You can sometimes pay the designer/LA to manage the project. Sometimes they are really good at it and other times they are not. Sometimes they have strong ties with certain contractors whom they have worked with because they work well together or because they know that the contractor is so capable that it won't take a lot of effort to manage them. Other times they just want to get the pay day and hire someone and hope for the best. But, a lot of the time the outcome is really in the hands of the property owner. That can be because they don't want to pay more for the designer's recommended contractor who may be the best one to mesh with the designer. It also could be that the PO does not feel that the project management is in the budget or worth the money so they contract it on their own. Some contractors are great at somethings and not so good at other things. Some crunch the numbers tight to land a job and then fight every expense (cut corners to manage the budget, often by simply hurrying to keep labor costs down) to keep the job reasonably profitable. Others are great at most everything and charge a lot of money so they can give it everything it needs and not be hurrying or trying to save nickels and dimes, but they are often seen as over priced. Some are just plain over priced even though they are not that terrific. This thread really illustrated most of this stuff. The biggest tip that MadTripper gives is to watch everything and don't let things slip by. You have to have real time quality control. That is what a Project Manager is supposed to do. If done properly, it clearly takes on a great responsibility and takes a lot of time - read "it costs a lot" into that. In the absence of a good project manager, you as the property owner are left to be the project manager. You essentially have to earn the money that you save by being that manager. MadTripper was up to the task, but many will not be. How do you know if your designer/LA who wants to get paid to manage your project is up to the task? You really have to talk to others who he has done this for. One of the qualities it takes is to have a sort of commanding personality. That is not the same personality most people want to deal with in the design process is it? If you feel that you can push a contractor around better than your designer, it might be best to manage the job yourself. I believe that he best situation is to find a designer/LA who works with a contractor or two very closely whom you can afford. They rely on each others success as a mutual benefit. The contractor is less likely to walk all over the designer and the designer is less likely to walk all over you. That is definitely in your best interest. It is way to easy to be in a situation where you a re trying to control the designer, he is trying to control the contractor, and the contractor is trying to get done and walk away with a profit (sometimes because they are spun around in circles by the others and sometimes because they just want to take the money and run. It is never text book.

1. Pool type: rectangle - 47 ft by 12.5 ft. with an interior spa. Swim length is 44 ft (pool cover vault takes up approx. 2.5 ft. of the pool's length. 2. 40,000 ish gallons 3. Perimeter length : approx, 120 ft 4. Min. depth / Max. depth: 3.5 ft to 5.5 ft. 5. Avg. # persons using (in) pool at a given time during the active season: 2-4 on days when dd has friends over. 6. Max. # persons pool can accommodate comfortably (before seeming too crowded): For lap swimming one or two is fine...for playing around, five or six is okay...beyond that, it gets crowded. 7. For your usage level, would you say your pool is undersized, oversized, just right: Just right given my yard space. If I had a bigger lot, I'd love a longer and wider pool. Daughter and friends *love* the slide....I' might have liked a deeper deep end for diving. Pics:

watermom, we have had 2 different freeform pools in homes that we moved into. while they are pretty, i wish we had rectangular. i'm not sure what your particular circumstances are, but i have 6 children and a water-loving lab. i really wish that we could have an automatic pool cover, not only for safety, but to keep a lot of the "stuff" that gets into the pool. We have a beautiful tree near our pool that my husband has refused to cut down. when you have a tree, you also get birds with droppings. the pool cover would also help keep down the heating costs and the chlorine costs, which get pretty high. when we renovated our pool it was more costly to get the coping done. also, the decking is more expensive to install because you have to order more stone or pavers to allow for cuts and waste, and more labor time to do all of the cuts. i have seen some beautiful rectangular pools and when they are done well, have a very classic look. - laura