I would suggest that non garden designers can train their eye to what they like and and what appears beautiful if they spend some time really looking at gardens and individual plants, and even more importantly, the natural surroundings to get ideas for their own garden. It might be as simple as clipping photos of appealing gardens from magazines, taking digital or 35 mm photos of appealing natural areas within your region, or driving the neighborhood to find examples of gardens that appeal to you. The next step might involve trying to analyze the characteristics that you find appealing, and don't just concentrate on the particular plants, colors, etc., but instead think it through in terms of the feelings it gives you; i.e., is wide open and spacious, enclosed and contemplative, restful, dynamic, exotic, familiar, etc. It also helps to really be honest with yourself about what you want your garden to be. Is it just for you and/or your family? Are you trying to compete with the neighbors, or is the potential status of a new garden an important consideration? Also it is really important to consider the longer term costs of maintenance and time required to keep the garden going. As well, try to think longer term in what you want the garden to be and do, which really affects how closely to plant things, what initial sizes will best suit your requirements, etc. I always try to elicit responses to these less obvious concerns before I start a design. I also prefer to work with clients who are referrals from previous clients, as they are more familiar with my work and are already self-selecting. I also really like to take potential clients to see my gardens and ask questions as to what appeals or not in each. I also find that opening my client's gardens on garden tours is a good way to get exposure to potential clients, and recommend garden tours to the public as a way to get more exposure to all the variety of designs and designer approaches. Visiting historic gardens/houses and botanic gardens is another approach to see and define your preferences from the enormous pallette of plants that can potentially be used in your own garden design. It may be heretical to say this, but a garden is an artifical construct, and does not have any specific rules as to what makes it work for any one person. If you are philosphically drawn to using natives and trying to create a garden that is not so dependent on constant work and resources to keep it going, you will not be happy with a formal garden of boxwood and roses. If a garden that appears similar to the untouched surroundings is not your idea of a garden, you won't want to hire a designer that specializes in the minimalist, naturalist approach. My favorite clients are the ones that feel a garden is both a refuge from the daily grind, and should be beautiful in its own right. I also enjoy the opportunity to incorporate art or influences from foreign travel into the garden design, and especially enjoy it when an initial non-gardener gets involved with gardening as a result of their newly created garden. Just coming off a garden tour this past weekend where over 1000 people came through a small 2000 square foot garden in one day, after viewing 13 distinctively different gardens and styles, it was interesting to question visitors about what they did/didn't like about the various gardens. I'll confess that I find it a little disappointing when the average visitor only sees the plants currently most showy in bloom, to the exclusion of all else. But there were certainly enough visitors who also "got" the larger picture, and were intrigued by the constrasts of the architecture brought out into the garden and contrasted with the abundance of riotous plantings to soften it. To have others notice the attention to details of matching flower and foliage colors to the house colors, and asking questions about the mix of hot and cool colors, dry and tropical plants, were the visitors I spent the most time conversing with. It was also interesting that out of over 150 different species of plants in the garden, there were only about 5 or 6 that elicited the most questions. As the garden and house will also be featured in a future issue of a national garden magazine, it will be interesting to see what the garden editor and photographer will see. After having the garden photographed by several other nationally known photographers, it is also interesting to see that each photographer captures different things. The end result, is that I do enjoy sharing my art with a wider public, and also learn that I can't please everyone, and shouldn't even try. It is enough to hear the client tell me that they enjoy their own garden more all the time, and to get their suggestions for how they would like to see the garden evolve, or give me thoughts on what they'd like to do diffently on the next project...

No way, BKay. You've proven you can grow hostas where you are. Maybe not some of the more, ah, 'delicate' ones, but you've 'weeded' out some of the ones you've seen that don't do too well in your climate. Don't give up! As far as which questions to ask, I'd start with the ones you seem to want to ask, as detailed in the third paragraph of your post. Those are good questions, and they wouldn't exactly be volunteering info if they simply answered those politely asked, yet pointed, questions. I'd tell 'em that you're an avid hosta grower, and to help you personally as a gardener, you'd be curious why all these big, apparently healthy hostas are gone. Shoot, you make ME want to ask them, and I'm not even a resident! Maybe I will, too... : ) Just my take, and good luck with the infoquest, Don B.

I would ask to see the specs for the equipment. Does it meet or exceed the total btu's, the latent as well as the sensible btu requirements. In today's world a "3 ton" may not actually be or even close to a nominal 3 ton value. The only way to be sure what you are getting performance wise is by asking for this info. IF not then the system will not deliver the comfort you are expecting. IF you system seems marginal now then ask for a load calc (Manual J) be performed. IF you do this be sure to specify the cooling and heating temps YOU want in order to again ensure your comfort. Also remember that if the two firms use different equipment the prices will vary. Be sure to ask about their warranty. Does it include weekends, holidays, etc. One may offer it as part of the price the other may not. One price may include an additional 'manufacturers warranty' while the other may not so be sure to ask IF one is included or not. Good luck with your choice

Old galvanized pipes have a finite lifespan. If you repair this leak, you have a good chance of it developing another leak in another location. The only good solution is a complete pipe replacement. The major expense of a pipe replacement will involve the digging of the trench from the meter to the house. This is an area where a DIYer can save some money. Have the utilities companies come out and mark the location of the pipe and any other utilities going to the home. Then you can choose a route parallel to the current pipe but just far enough away from it that you aren't disturbing it. You can rent a trencher (Maybe $200) and hand dig the larger access points at the meter and house. Then you can call a plumber to lay the pipe and make the connections. If you are not physically capable of doing this, then do you have any family or friends that would be? Church group? Scout troop? There are usually community resources that can help you to figure out what you can do here. The worst thing you can do is to ignore the leak.