Ok, I listened to you guys and hired a landscape architect. The good news: He said the two oaks I was worried about would probably be just fine. Suggested I get an arborist out to give them some sort of treatment just in case. He liked my crude self drawn hardscape plan and had a couple of great suggestions. He said the retaining wall isn't such a big deal. He said to save money, I should use Belgard type of pavers and stop obsessing over wall height and live with a step down or two. He said NOT to do my own waterfall because I'll mess it up. And he gave me a nice planting plan using most of my existing shrubs. The bad news is that he said "Those two oaks over THERE need to be removed before you do anything. They're dying. Cost: $1900. They didn't look so dead to me, but he told me if they are dead on top, they are going to be dead all the way down. What a shame because they are big and beautiful. I may post another question just about dying oaks...

I do not understand the whole "investor" thing... Is this in the US? Is this a new (old) creative way of financing? Why are you, the homeowner, not make the decisions on the house you're building? Or, at least with regards to direct discussions with the GC. Is this really an investor development, which are you are buying into early (before the houses are done) and hoping to get some customization since they are in-process? I don't think you are the only one who has mentioned "investor" issues on this board, but all of the sudden "investor" issues have come up more than once in the last month. I have been on the boards over a year, regularly, and haven't seen this. So, looking for explanation/insight.

Please refer to original post :-) This picture shows a close-up of the right pillar Image link:

Please refer to original post :-) This picture shows a top-down picture of the right pillar again showing the size of the pebble pool sunk in the ground bordered by the ferns. Image link: