While I think that the "FAQ" as outlined by swanoir was presented tongue in cheek ('the humus'), many of the subsequent comments and/or links to threads that could/should be included in a FAQ were presented in a more serious tone. And maybe they do make sense as a foundation to a real LD forum FAQ. But I've also sensed something else in these comments that may contribute to the apparent lack of communication between new posters seeking advice and those that regularly frequent this forum and offer it. And that is that the long checklist provided by Miss R must be (or should be) answered in detail before posting. Well, of course not! But it is definitely something worth reviewing and giving some thought to. This checklist, or something very similar, is what most designers utilize when first meeting with a prospective client. It gives them a feeling for what the client wants to do with the property, how they intend to use it, what they hope to get out of it and how much effort (time/$$) are they are intending to put into it. Hopefully, reviewing an outline or checklist such as this could help to refine and focus some of those blank slate questions and even educate those new posters totally unfamiliar with the process the degree of complexity, the number of variables and exactly what is involved in the formulation of a landscape design. Even DIY landscape texts intended for the homeowner with no previous design or landscaping experience offer similar checklists to get one started thinking about the process. Obviously, this is overkill for those questions that are more issue-specific, but I think very appropriate for those that are much broader and far less focused.

Prickly-you should hire a kid in your neighborhood to help you with hoses and sprinklers. There's no sense breaking your health just to keep some plants alive in a drouth. If you have a xeriscape, those low water consumption plants should be able to survive many weeks without water. As far as water rationing and high water bills, I feel all your pain. As a former resident of Colorado, I endured over 20 years of water rationing, "water-waster" citations, and dying lawns and gardens. To add insult to injury, in winter after a snowstorm we were required to have our walks shoveled by noon. If the snowplows came by after you shoveled and piled snow up on your sidewalk again, tough noogies, you have to go out and shovel it again or you get a ticket. We didn't even have an aquifer to draw from, Denver is a high desert and all of our water is piped in from the western slope and California, for which we paid huge bills. One suggestion that might help a lot of you in San Antonio who are experiencing this, get rain barrels and use them to catch runoff from your roof. If your HOA won't allow them in front of the house, use them in back. DH and I have been using all of our runoff water for the gardens this year and it has been a good thing since we had no rain for nearly three months. We're on a well and watering the yard and garden from the tap is out of the question for us.

Hi Chris, I very much like having a SWG...the saltwater is softer on the eyes/hair/bathing suits, etc. I got it as an upgrade to the original contract because everyone here seemed to like them quite well. Originally, the unit that was installed 2 years ago was a Watermaid. The Watermaid runs with a higher salt content than most other manufacturer's units (6,000-7,000 ppm compared to 3,200-3,500 ppm in most units). Prior to running into the problem with the salt water corroding the pool cover, I did not particularly like the Watermaid as it tended to develop air bubbles when i switched the solar heating on and off and the SWG would often stop working after the solar was running. The unit MV replaced the Watermaid with is an Intellichlor. So far, so good (although, truth be told, I actually preferred the feel of the water with the higher salt content). As to coverstar v. coverpools, I can't say that I can truly compare the two. MV pools uses Coverpools so CoverStar was not an option. Had I wanted to go with Coverstar, I probably would have had to have subcontracted that portion out. Because I wanted it to be an inground unit, it had to be designed and built together with the pool. The CoverStar cover I had on my last pool was a much simpler system -- it was an aftermarket, deckmounted unit. It was not connected with the sheer descents, so there were no sensors to break down, no SWG, etc. Therefore, I can't really compare the two units, as it's not an apples-to-apples kind of comparison. Customer service (Alternative Pool Systems for the CoverPool and PoolSafe for the Coverstar) for both companies is excellent, though...I'd probably say Eric from Alternative Pool Systems (the one Mission Valley Deals with) would get the nod, as he has been exceedingly responsive and was totally on top of things with the corrosion issues). As for the decking, I purchased the pavers from Ackerstone in Corona. I liked their selection much more than what I had seen at RCP and KRC. Except for Friday mornings when Ackerstone sells their overruns at a *tremendous* discount to the general public (I got pavers that normally sold for more than $5 sq. ft. for $ .80 a sq. ft (yes, 80 cents!)), they only sell to contractors. Since I was in the process of a home remodel at the time I was able to use my contractor to effect the purchase. Southwest Boulder in Fallbrook is a distributor for Ackerstone, and I also bought additional pavers from them when I purchased my flagstone (they have a great selection!) as the delivery costs were lower. The coping and most of my decking, seating and retaining walls were installed by MV's mason - Uriel Hurtado. Notwithstanding a couple of issues that arose with the retaining walls owing to an over-zealous building inspector, Uriel was a pleasure to work with. He had some very creative ideas, and was very fair with his pricing. After the remodel/addition was finished (which was nearly 4 months after the pool was done), I took on landscaping and needed to make some changes to the decking (we moved a couple of doors going out the the deck and added a door to the master bath and guest bath). These were done by my landscaper as the pool had been completed and we had since moved on project-wise.

Mission Pools - Stay away Our familyÂs personal experience - I called into Mission Pools back in April this year to request a repair as part of my tile on the right face of my Mission Pools spa was falling off. I explained this exact sort of thing had happened some time ago (2005) on the left half of the Spa and was repaired after my initial call as a warranty issue in 2005. Now they refuse to repair the exact same of problem under warranty on the right half of the spa and have e-mailed me an excessively high quote for repair of $5,000! This has now become a health and Safety issue as tile is unstable and a hazard to children and adults alike and a liability to our family and Mission Pools as Mr. Dunn (Owner) and their service department are aware of the situation. I have been down this road once before at the time of the construction with Mission Pools. The Spa needed to be completely rebuilt (jack hammered out and completely reformed) due to a poor workmanship, structural issues and irregular forming. I had to go to war with them then and apparently I do now. Bruce Dunn wonÂt give you the time of day until you file a complaint with the California contract licensing board  Stay away!!