I no longer use any landscape fabric bc they all allow the weeds to grow and get tangled thruout the fabric making a complete mess when you try to remove a weed. Now I won't use anything the won't decompose in the soil. Such as newspapers, cardboard, wood chips, leaves, pine needles, or compost. Your own compost is prob the best. So what if I have to replace it every year. The IS how Mother Nature does it. I save all my cardboard just for spring - well after the sun warms the soil. Any weed sprouts are much easier to remove. :) My neighbors all despise leaves - I collect them :) ps. I haven't fertilized in years.

You need on-site consultation that really "gets" where you are coming from in what you want from your "landscaping" and what you can put into it (not just money but maintenance adn/or interaction with your landscaping. You could give some thought to how much you value really fine landscaping (it's okay not to, much) and that might determine where you shop for services. You said "I want to design it now," which I interpret to mean you want it designed now, and that's fine. But this type of random interaction with posters is not the same as the design process that you need when you are just starting out with your first thoughts about landscaping AND you want a soon result. You're "in the weeds" here, and because of the combination of where you're starting from and the way random postings and replies work, it isn't likely that this process will work for you, and I think you don't realize that. Your builder has put you in a box with all the "beds" and mulch lined up around the house and I think it will take an on-site re-design to help you break out of that. I'm not intending to put off those who have offered specific suggestions and pictures--I think they know the limitations of their suggestions and are just giving you food for thought. So of course it is fine to have a fun back and forth of suggestions and reactions, and for some people it gets creative processes going and new ideas. But that is not getting your landscape designed. So, find professionals in your area, look at some of what they have done, and try to pick one. The threads that I think will be most helpful to you on this forum are the ones on what types of persons/qualifications to look for, how to find a professional, and the different ways they tend to charge, how you can interact with professional, e.g., turnkey jobs vs. pay for design jobs and install yourself, install in stages etc. So you can decide on both a budget and how much you want to be involved in the process.

Much discussed topic. Search finds 390 results for "light". The link might provide a lot of immediate info. IronBelly Here is a link that might be useful: Search results for

Bump. I am wondering this exact same question. I am looking at bronze path lights and the Kirchler are each nearly $100 more than the Volt. Some people say you get what you pay for, which is true to a degree. But it has been my experience that some vendors just charge more because they can and you do not get more, you just get to pay more. I want to get all I can without paying more than I need to. Here is the [Kirchler at $134[(https://www.houzz.com/products/kichler-lighting-15005azt-six-groove-bronze-landscape-path-light-prvw-vr~8134963) [https://www.houzz.com/products/kichler-lighting-15005azt-six-groove-bronze-landscape-path-light-prvw-vr~8134963[(https://www.houzz.com/products/kichler-lighting-15005azt-six-groove-bronze-landscape-path-light-prvw-vr~8134963) And here is a similar light by Volt at $45. Or, if there is another high quality manufacturer for something like this that you know of that I should be considering, please do share. Thanks.