This question comes up frequently and it doesn't really have a simple answer. Much is dependent on your neighborhood - established neighborhoods with a mix of architectural styles and with various remodels and new construction thrown in tend to lend themselves to a variety of landscapes as well. This is in contrast to newer, development-type neighborhoods where the houses share an architectural character and arise from a similar construction date - these tend to share a similarity in landscaping as well. These too tend to be more often governed by neighborhood associations or residential covenants that sometimes dictate what the landscaping should or should not include. Curb appeal may have some influence in the choice. A front garden devoted entirely to a cottage style - by definition a bit exuberant and cluttered and often rather lacking in winter appeal - may come across as messy or unkempt. There is also a lesser consideration of resale value - uniquely different landscapes may catch the eye but have mixed results when the time comes to put pen to paper. Personally, I would reserve my most eclectic tastes and design choices for the privacy of the back yard and strive for something a bit more middle of the road for the more public front yard. That doesn't have to mean boring or trite - this is where your garden design creativity comes into play - but something that compliments your home AND your neighborhood as well as saying something distinctive about you as the owner.

I will point out to everyone that the designer in question would not have these rates for very long if there were not those who felt she is worth it. Is the price too steep? It depends on your needs and whether the consultant has something equal to that value or not. I think I know who the designer is and if I'm correct, this person is a specialist in period design. I was involved in a publicly owned historic renovation project a couple of years ago as the site designer. I told the board that was running it to look for such a person because I did not want to touch the landscape design with a ten foot pole. I'm not saying that I could not do the research and get up to speed with historically accurate, but there is more to it than that. I did the Site Plan and all the politics involved in getting approval for a large parking lot and some large retaining walls that were necessary yet very scary to those who use the historic campus this was on. I was in the best position to get that phase done which allowed for a fresh face and new specialized set of credentials to get through the planting design without the added baggage of the site plan battles. These projects are run by committees and subcommittes. It is the politics of design where specialty credentials is highly important as a position of strength in order to bring all the competing agendas and values together. You also have to have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to control that process and get the job done along with those credentials. Not many people fit that specialized description. When someone does, and this person did, he or she is worth the pay rate. Now many might say that "I don't need the politacal power, so I should not be charged for it". They would be correct, but the designer can't displace her full billing rate with low billing rates just because someone only needs a portion of her value. She knows most people are not going to need her full capacity and are not willing to pay for it. But, she wants both the challenge and rewards of working at that full capacity and the enjoyment of working for people who value that as much as she does. The end result is only the people who really value what she does will get involved with her. She'll have a greater quality of life doing challenging specialized work and making a better living at it. That is not bad for anyone.

Someone has since sent a photo...got em' on order. As expected looks much like the parent Viburnum mongolicum with hints of its other suspected parent Viburnum x rhytidophylloides ÂAlleghanyÂ. Guessing the photo is from August based on the fruit set..probably needs a drink of water too.

Organics are pretty dark. Not a lot of opportunity there. Aluminum foil on the ground probably isn't "landscape acceptable". White rock mulch is a possibility, but you're not going to be doing much cultivation there, I guess, if you use it. You could consider painting a wooden lattice panel bright white, and propping that up just above the soil, maybe with bricks. It would last for a while that way, and it could be attractive. Plant through the lattice holes. Pull the whole thing up when you want to till and cultivate. Worth remembering that most non-specular (e.g. not mirror-like) reflective surfaces diffuse the light in all directions. So white paint and or mineral mulch won't reflect the light straight back up, but at all angles, which may not help plants that much.