"Yardvaark: Apologies if I stepped on your toes... " I didn't perceive that. Plants can be problem solvers, if one knows what the problem is and understands the personality/character of the plant. But not knowing the bed shape, size and way it is divided and what parts of the house one is willing to screen and what parts shouldn't be screened means that the problem is not well enough understood. My sketch is exploring how PART of the problem might be solved, but since it is from only one viewpoint, one must be thinking of how it can be converted (with or without refinements and alterations) to work in 3 dimensions. If you like the plants as low mounds and groups better than the much more common -- lines -- then it would be ok to begin transferring those ideas to plan view for working out and further refinement. I'm not trying to shove an idea or scheme down your throat but am trying to show a process. You can alter a/the scheme to suit your needs. If one begins selecting plants before knowing how those plants should be shaped, sized and arranged, then the chance will be greater that a plant would become a problem CREATOR instead of a problem solver. To take one example, in the scheme I've offered, I see only one place where a single 'Otto Luyken would work. You might come up with a different scheme to work in more, but you'd need to create that need first. Thanks for explaining the "stone border" with the picture. Sorry to say, that is not what I consider to be a good solution as compared to other possible solutions. I'm not saying it to hurt your feelings, but to let you know that better is available. What's wrong with it? First, the scale ... a 3-inch wide stripe embedded in the ground reads as thin as a knife edge relative to the size of the entire lawn ... especially if it is raised above the surrounding grade, which seems to be the common, popular way of doing it. Second, that it is raised ... so as to give the bed an appearance of emptiness instead of fullness. Third, and again this seems the popular way of doing it, but the shape outlined is a quarter-circle ... why is there a flat spot at the 10 o'clock position? It adds an air of sloppiness or cheapness to the appearance. It would look a whole lot better if you: create a mowing strip (a flush, inlaid strip) ... that is at least 8" wide ... that is organized and laid out with perfect plan view geometry. In the case here, you'd be working with a sloped grade, so the strip must be created with a smoothness and uniformity that flows with the grade. If there is an imperfection in the grade (a bump or "pothole") then it would be imperative to fix the grade in order to create a border strip with a uniformly smooth, flowing grade. Granted, my solution costs a bit more than the solution proposed in the photo, but the difference in cost is far less than the differential in appearance between the two different schemes. This post was edited by Yardvaark on Wed, Jan 8, 14 at 17:53

Lady Vix, I write this only because you say you are new to this and something caught my eye in your last post. You said "you weren't going to go down to the bank and sign the papers until ......" And then I checked your other posts a quick scan didn't bring up any mention of a mortgage application or approval. So I want to point out that it's not as simple as buying something like a car where essentially you just sign papers promising to pay a certain amount and then you're good to go. With a house you have to apply to the bank for a mortgage on a specific house and they not only evaluate your credit, but they also require you to pay for an appraisal (not the same thing as the tax "appraisal" or the relator's comprehensive market analysis.) Then they decide how much money they will agree to lend to you as a mortgage. You have to come up with the rest. (These days banks' appraisers are being very conservative about values.) There's tons of paperwork you have to submit to the bank and then they will tell you if they will give you a mortgage for this house and how much down payment they require. They will give you an good faith estimate of the closing costs (which may include a lot of fees). You may also have to refund to the seller a portion of the year's property taxes. Plus you will need to have homeowner's insurance, etc. You are spending lots of money on inspections, but you need to get the mortgage app process going right away because if you can't get a mortgage (and banks are reportedly being extremely choosy these days and requiring much bigger down payments than in recent years), you could be wasting a lot of money on these inspections. If you have been to a bank and have been told you are "prequalified" you should know that means nothing Sorry! You need a mortgage approval, which you can only get from starting a mortgage application. Sometimes it takes more than one attempt from different banks. And this typically takes weeks, or even more. If you already have this covered, meaning you already have a mortgage committment/approval on this specific property, ignore this. If not, get to the bank, TODAY! Good luck! L

This is an issue that I struggle with on a daily basis. I have a disease that causes me great amounts of pain. In addition, I suffer with fibromyalgia and I need a knee replacement-my knee is bone on bone and has been that way for a few years. I also fractured my spine 5 years ago so I have bad, chronic pain from that. I cannot walk unassisted-I need a cane now, and will be transitioning to a walker in a year or so. I cannot climb stairs without assistance and I cannot bend my left knee. My disease exaserbates my knee problem because my ankles don't bend so my gait is off-throwing off my hips and back too. About 8 years ago I was prescribed 60 325/5mg Norco-the lowest dose available, and it was to take one to two a day as needed for severe pain. For 5 years I seldom refilled except ever few months. Then I developed the fibro and my knee got worse. Coupled with my physically demanding job, I was having to take the two pills a day. Then the pain just kept getting worse-which is very typical with the disease I have. So since I only had a prescription for 2 pills a day, I'd only take them when I could not longer bear the pain-I'd be at about a level 5 all day and I'd take the pills when it got to a 7. As a long term chronic pain sufferer you learn to live with pain! My doctor told me that I was in a very, very small group of his pain management patients who really did need the pain pills. I never called in for early refills, my urine tests always came back clean, etc. But then he retired and I got a new doctor. My new doctor doesn't believe me that I now need a higher dose of the Norco. A nurse told me that the dose I've been prescribed (for 8 years) is virtually the equivalent of a Tylenol 3-used to help someone get over a sprained back and not for a long term-chronic pain sufferer. My doc prescribed Tramadol-which helped somewhat with my fibro pain but didn't do anything at all for the other pain-the pain that would make me white out at times, feel like I was going to vomit from pain, and keep me up all night, in tears. I kept refilling it because it did help me get through the day at work when just wearing clothing hurt and my HAIR hurt-but I'd save the Norco till bed time so I could take two just so I might be able to sleep without crying. FInally I went in to see him, literally in tears because I hurt so bad, to ask to get my prescription increased. He's had me take xrays which show severe arthritis and bone spurs in my left knee. Arthritis in my ankles, my right knee, my back and my neck. (I was told 15 years ago I had the neck of an 80 year old, it's so damaged from car accidents). So he has proof that I'm in agony but he told me that since I already take Tramadol, he won't increase the Norco, because it will just stop working and I'll need higher and higher doses. He blames the extra weight I've put on because I CANNOT WALK ANY MORE to the Norco stopping my metabolism. His solution to my crying in agony was for me to call the bariatric unit to get into the gastric bypass program so I will lose weight so they'll fix my knee. In a very best case scenario that would be at least 18 months out, and it won't help the lymphedema or the arthritis in the rest of my body. My friend has fentanyl patches, takes Lyrica, and gets regular injections for her various pains. I do not want to move on to Oxycodone or fentanyl! I just want my Norco increased to 1-2 every 4 hours as needed-which is the TYPICAL low dose. I won't even take them if I don't need them! I can't take ibuprofen-it causes stomach bleeding in me. I try cannabis, I try massage, accupuncture, stretching, water exercises, heat/cold you name it. I have said to my doctor that I've considered having my legs amputated if it would mean that pain would stop-of course I wouldn't do that but when you have such bad pain that you'd sacrifice your legs to make it stop-THAT is real pain. I really do live in fear of what will happen if the pain meds are further restricted.

I have purchased a number of older homes, and this sounds like par for the course for me. All this "money pit" and "walk away" stuff is perplexing. If you want a new home, then get one. If you want one from 1960, it is going to have systems near the end of their lives and some items to repair. Anything already disclosed or already visually obvious is off the table. No Seller is going to rebuild the deck for you, or replace a roof that is not leaking. You are buying what you see. The only reason for inspection is to reveal unknown issues you will have to deal with in the future. I'd ask for repair of the electrical issues because those can be safety issues. Then evaluate the cost of a new roof and a new deck, compare that with the cost of a similar house in perfect new repair, and ask for some reasonable dollar amount or amount off the purchase price. If you cannot afford to repair these items, think twice about an older home.