Grant, GARDEN DESIGN ILLUSTRATED (5 bucks at used book store near me) talks about bed shapes, drifting of plants, role of each type (broadleaf evergreen shrub, deciduous shrub...) in planting design--it's an essay on methods and principals. Are you looking for background and fundamentals, like this offers, or just sample planting plans you can pick specific combinations from? If the latter look for books that have titles like PLANTING COMBINATIONS--although it's hit and miss what a plant-by-numbers book is called and whether it has suggestions about the same plants you have already. Maybe list all you have here and see what somebody here suggests to do with those.

" I would attack’s it with a sponge at least to see if you can clean that up." You do that and you own the entire thing, make him clean it up better. Sooner the better as grout hardens over time. Also as alluded to above he needs to remove the grout at all chnages of plane and use 100% silicone caulk.

Your best resource will always be an experienced landscape design professional local to your area. If none available or you prefer this to be 100% DIY, you can develop a landscape plan on your own but that comes with a rather high learning curve. There are some texts tailored to homeowners that can be helpful and walk you through the process. Two that I recommend when I teach garden design are BHG's New Complete Guide to Landscaping and Creative Home Landscaping by Ortho Books (both are available through Amazon). They will take you step by step through site evaluation and analysis, how to measure and develop a base map/site plan, understanding and application of design principles and the all the elements involved in creating a functional and attractive master landscape plan. My strong suggestion is that if you go the textbook route, do not short cut any of the steps involved. They may seem tedious or unnecessary but the information and experience they impart is really essential to the best outcome. Both books have plant guides included that can help with plant selection. But they are very generalized, as the books are intended for a national readership and plants are very location related, so you may have to supplement this info with visits to better local garden centers or botanical gardens to see what works best in your location. And both texts will have basic construction how-to's for installing simple hardscapes, lighting and irrigation and construction of common outdoor structures,,,,,fences, decks, arbors and pergolas, etc.

I would probably do something unobtrusive that would still give good like, maybe like this: this is a bit hard to see on the website because they have it on a light background: