If I understand your background, you have 5 years of retail nursery experience, have gone to college and have a degree, but didn't specialize/get a degree in horticulture or landscape architecture? If so, and from what you've indicated as your horticultural/landscape design interests, it sounds like you are somewhat limited in skill set to planting designs for existing garden beds rather than knowledgable about all aspects of garden design, including non-planting hardscape issues. Nothing wrong with that, but it tends to limit the scale of projects you can realistically take on, and what your perceived worth is in the market. Right out of school, I'd also suggest there is real value to be had from getting experience working for an existing more experienced firm, and absorbing the lessons to be learned about pricing services and materials, running a business, etc, rather than immediately doing it all on your own. You could always continue to do the self employed thing as a weekend job while gaining experience with a firm. I certainly agree with you that there are a lot of landscape installers, (I hesitate to even call some landscape designers or contractors), that don't raise the caliber of the profession. I don't much like Leyland Cypress for general landscaping myself, but find that fast growing and inexpensive plants may also have a suitable place in some situations. As far as positioning what you do as fine art, you may really have an eye for planting composition, but it is also about experience gained over time about how your designs hold up, and maintaining them to remain looking good as they grow. I would have to add that it is almost impossible to have that degree of experience and a maintenance perspective in just 5 short years. I'd suggest taking lots of pictures, returning at different seasons and following years to track progressions, and build up your knowledge set with more experience of how your designs mature/hold up. If your portfolio supports your opinion that you are an artist at what you do, and your client satisfaction supports you with recommendations and referrals, you may be on your way. It might be worth your while to do a display garden in a local garden show venue, or have your garden designs featured on a garden tour to get more exposure. I admire your enthusiasm and energy, but would also advise you to pay a bit more attention to reviewing what you write/blog for spelling/grammar/syntax, etc. before you push the send button; because your writing is also part of how you'll be perceived professionally. If it seems rushed and full of errors, some might judge your design work as rushed. Good luck with your career, and the shopping carts full of nursery plants is an interesting point of departure on your blog. It would be more interesting to have included progress installation photos and initial/ 6 month follow up shots of those plants in one of your designs. I hope you continue to find your own voice, and absolutely nothing wrong about being opinionated and passionate about what you do. Just be able to back it up, and document/follow up on your own work so that you'll have more experience. As an example of a really opinionated blogger writing about garden design and faux pas, check out Billy Goodnick on the web, he's got his own blog and has also written garden columns over many years in Santa Barbara, California. You might find him entertaining as an example of a similar passionate voice.

mike- If you want to go the simple 2 speed approach to save money, I would recommend at least the 1.5HP 2 speed which will be 1/4 HP at low speed and will provide adequate turns on your pool daily for filtration and chlorination. The 1.0HP at low speed is 1/5 HP and will require much longer run times to circulate your pool. With the right valving, the 1.5HP at high speed will be enough for your spa and cleaner. Also, I have seen 1 story solar panels work fine with 2 speed pumps at low speed. I think mas985 was referring to 2 story solar panels and with these elevations, the vacuum levels can reach the design limit of the panels, but even then, there have been folks on this forum that have successfully used 2 speed pumps on low speed for 2 story panels. Like mas985 says, the vacuum breaker has to be positioned at lower elevations and you should consult your solar panel maker for exceptions to their normal application guidelines. Variable speed will also do the job, but as you said, it is more money to begin with and the payoff will depend largely on your local utility rate. If my utility rate was $.30/KWH, I would have chosen a variable speed pump, but at $.07/KWH, the payoff would be over 10 years. All the above assumes no problems with the 2 speed or variable speed over its life. If the variable speed fails, you are likely looking an expensive total pump replacement. From recent posts on this forum, it seems that at least one variable speed manufacturer will not provide separate replacement parts for their variable speed pumps. If the 2 speed fails, you can replace the parts and be back up and running with a nominal expense. Hope this helps!

"Does anyone have an opinion on solar panels on racks below the pool vs one story up on a porch roof?" You state that you only have 300 sq. ft. of available space on the roof for mounting solar panels. You have 640 sq. ft. of pool surface area. So, you would have less than 50% of the pool surface vs. solar panel area if you roof mount the panels. I don't recommend less than 80% of solar vs. pool surface area for solar. Anything less than that will probably be disappointing to you with respect to performance. The advantage of a rack mount for your panels is that you can use as many panels as you want. And, you don't have to make roof penetrations that could cause problems. A 2 hp pump should be more than adequate to run your solar system unless the horizontal run is very long. Just make sure that you do your homework before attempting to install the solar panels yourself. You must keep your head pressure within tolerances; otherwise you can damage your filter.

Git, with the goldline unit you are better with the colorlogic lights, as you will be able to completly control them better. You can control the Intellibrites by turning them on and off to get to the different programs. The one thing I do like better about the colorlogics is the party mode. The color changing is faster, and more fun, other then that the Intellibrites better all around. If you could hold each one in your hand you would know which one is quality and which one is disposible. If you are worried about backwashing DE, you could get a Quad filter, and not backwash, or you could put a seperation tank on to catch all the DE. Cartridge is always an option. Sand is ok, just requires more backwashing, and your water wont be as sparkly.