Tall at the back, shorter in front. The fact that Barrett Browning and Juanita were packaged together doesn't mean they must be planted together -- they probably won't bloom together. Put the paperwhites in bowls of pebbles, inside for Christmas pretties. They're probably too cold tender for your area, I think? Fertilizer is fertilizer. Look at the analysis on the bulb fertilizer bag and buy a similar mix -- but the bulb fertilizer is meant for tulips, not daffodils. The crocus will bloom ahead of everything else, so it doesn't matter where they go. Why not along the sidewalk and they'll be gone when the grass needs cutting? Muscari looks wonderful up close to yellow daffodils. Let them meander in a little stream (double and triple rows) along the edge of a nice drift of yellow. Mark areas for bulbs and areas for perennials, separately. It always takes more bulbs than you have. Nell

Do yourself a HUGE favor...bite the bullet, deal with your impatience, enroll in U of Guelph, and earn your MLA. I'm new around here, thus the late response...but I feel I'm qualified to give you some career advice. I'm a managing partner/owner (and RLA) in a Landscape Architecture and Civil Engineering firm. I'll be very frank with my response...my hope is that you'll take it seriously and not be offended. If I were to get a resume from you with the MLD from Conway as your highest level of education (along with your BA History of course), I wouldn't give you a second thought. With a promising cover letter, I MIGHT peruse your info to find out more about the Conway education but you would not be a candidate for any job openings. With the current massive layoffs in the industry, you will be up against some of the top talent in the field...believe me - I've already laid them off or seen their recently brushed off resumes. To sit for the LARE, in MOST states/provinces you'll have to ALREADY have completed 2+ years of apprenticeship under a licensed landscape architect. On top of that you'll be required to have a BLA or MLA from a CLARB accredited school (schools have to renew their accredidation with CLARB every few years and that in itself is no cakewalk for the institution). There are sometimes (depending on state/province) ways around the education part, and you could very well qualify with your work experience...BUT... And then of course is the test...I worked with a person who sat for it numerous times during a 15+ year career before passing (wasn't good with the grading and construction sections but was a great conceptual designer). And that's just the licensing part. Reading your posts, I believe you're ready to go into a MLA program...and I recommend and encourage you to do so if you're serious about this: "primary interest is along the lines of large scale design, subdivisions, parks, resorts etc." You will never do that type work without being a LICENSED/REGISTERED LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT. The profession is so much broader and truly design-based than plants, patios, and pergolas. I think you've realized that whether you know it or not. When I was in school, we students had an inside joke...we thought it was easier to get a degree in landscape archtecture than it was to quadruple-major in art, horticulture, engineering, and ecology. And for some perspective, you mention "2 of the 3 projects are on a scale that far exceeds garden design or even residential layouts..." In my BLA program (and I'm sure is the same across the board), we would do 4-6 projects on a scale that far exceeds garden design or even residential layouts in one class (each semester)...and that was only our studio course, which was on top of a couple of lecture classes and/or core-related electives. I could go on and on with reasons why you should get your MLA over the Conway certificate, but I don't want to wear my fingers out typing (I've got a little sketching to do tomorrow)...just do yourself, your significant other, and future family a favor and complete your education to prepare you for what (I think) you truly want to do. A few final and perhaps random thoughts: - You mention putting a time constraint on what you want to achieve...with the time constraint you'll never achieve your goal of designing subdivisions, resorts, parks, etc. - Listen to DD when he talks about the rules...they are in place and you have to play by them. - The Univ. of Guelph will prepare you for a great career in Landscape Architecture...my best employee (who I've unfortunately had to lay off) is a graduate and is an extremely talented designer who understands the design process and is effective at commuunicating his design intent, which is always very well thought out. Of all my employees, I think his education prepared him better than most. - You've got to quit equating "landscaping" and "landscape design" with "landscape architecture"...they are two totally different things and are on very different levels. You must embrace that fact. - And on plantings, planting design, and the horticulture end of our profession... There's currently great debate regarding how plants and planting design fit into our profession and if it is or isn't being given it's proper attention. I'm of the opinion that unfortunately it's on its way to being a lost art. IMO, it's our greatest medium, but too many don't appreciate and understand plants as well as they should; and many RLAs deal very minimally with plants and focus instead on other aspects and scales of the profession where individual plants don't come into play . Plantings are VERY IMPORTANT to my designs, but only about 10% of the work I do actually involves plantings...the rest is planning (at varying scales and phases), rezoning, grading/drainage design, hardscape design, construction administration/observation, coordination of plans and designs with other consultants, water quality strategy with my PEs, etc, etc. - Pick up a few books to see if they peak your interest...if so, enroll in Guelph...try these: Landscape Architecture: A Manual of Site Planning and Design by John O. Simonds Site Analysis: Linking Program and Concept in Land Planning and Design by James A. LaGro Jr Design with Nature by Ian L. McHarg The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces by William H. Whyte Those are a few...there are many more. Good Luck!

I had to do a new bed where I was left with about 3 inches of top soil and a LOT of gravel underneath (there was construction in my yard). I removed the larger pieces of gravel, but some of it was ground up. So I just added a LOT of garden soil and soil conditioner, a few bags of black kow composted manure and then mulch. I did have some erosion when we had downpours, plus I found out the slope is more extreme than I thought. So I had to build up some of the roses. I do plan on putting stone edgers in, but in the mean time, I took these inexpensive plastic edging pieces, connected two in a circle and put those around the base of the rose to prevent further erosion. I am slowing adding more and more soil. Eventually this will be a raised bed, but for now the roses are safe. If you do get erosion, just add more soil. Depending on the spot and how it drains, you may need to put some kid of edging in to hold the soil in, especially before it settles.

Sara, thank you so much for your reply. Keeping your suggestions in mind, I made some revisions to my drawing. I felt that the narrow walls (on walls B, D and F) were too narrow to put two stiles and still have the 1.5x panel between. It just would have been too skinny I think. Do you agree? So on those walls, I drew in one extra wide stile, no panels as all. I widened all the rails and stiles to 4 9/16" so that the extra wide stiles on these narrow walls (6" stiles on wall B, 8" stiles on walls D and F) don't look too out of place. What do you think? Do you think walls B and D will look odd with no panels on either side of the door and one narrow panel above the door. The only redeeming factor is that the walls with the extra wide stiles are separated by fully panelled walls between them. Crossing my fingers it won't look too amateur! Any feedback or suggestions would be so appreciated.