The very first thing you have to do is have a solid plan in place to handle your erosion problem. It would be a monumenetal and expensive mistake to start any type of landscape construction project without first having your erosion plan as well as drainage plan in place. If this is a large job as you have stated then you should have a decent set of plans showing all your built structures along with the materials specification sheet and construction specifications. If you do not, you are not ready to start your project. How will your contractor know how to bid and effectively build your project if he does not have any specifications written up on the product that he is suppose to supply ? In regards to your contractor asking for 50 percent down. That would not fly in my state if you were a licensed and bonded contractor. It would be against the law. As a contractor in California you can only request 10 % of the cost of the job prior to starting the job. Once the job is started you can then negotiate for any type of payment schedule that you work out with the client. 50% down is a poor amount for the homeowner to negotiate. When a contractor asks for this amount it is a tell tale sign that they do not have established accounts at the local supply houses, and one has to ask the question WHY does a reputable contractor not have established accounts. It also sends a message that the contractor does not have operating overhead in his account. _ Not a good sign. As a landscape designer I work with all of my clients to negotiate a fair and reasonable contract , in this situation I would still be sitting firmly at the negotiation table. This would not be a satisfactory contract for my client to sign.

We are in Kansas City, where there aren't as many pools and pricing isn't as competetive, so your bids sound quite low. Our lot is wooded, steep and sloped away from the house, and we also are sitting on solid rock. Our first bid just for excavation and building a retaining wall to hold the pool was $35,000. That was for a 7 to 9 foot wall on the back side of the pool using 12" high natural rocks. Then a standard 16 x 32 kidney shaped pool (with deep end for diving) was going to be another $50 to $60,000 on top of that. That pricing included black plaster, the pool deck, SWG, in-floor cleaning and all equipment. No spa. The second bid (which we ended up going with) was just over $100,000 all-inclusive for a 500+ sq ft natural pool (3.5 - 5.5 ft depth) including a negative edge with waterfall into a smaller pool below that is convertible into a hot tub. In this contract, the cost of landscaping included $22,000 to build a series of stepped dry-stacked retaining walls with planter beds on the backside of the pool to blend with existing retaining walls on the property, and boulder landscaping for $12,000 to bridge between the two levels of pools. The boulders also continue under the water line into the lower pool in one corner to tie into the waterfall. The cost of landscaping also includes removing existing dry-stacked retaining walls that were in the construction area, but not tree removal. The third bid we got (just a general price with no detail) was $120 - $130,000 for a lagoon style pool with grotto, spa and waterfall, and included a large single retaining wall on the backside. These bids were from the top 3 (high-end) pool builders in Kansas City, all with great reputations and highly recommended. Unfortunately, the company we ended up going with (Sun & Swim Pools, in business since 1958) ended up going bankrupt in April during our pool build, and we have contracted with another PB to complete our pool. In comparison, your bid sounds very low, so be very careful in selecting your PB.

You say this is back left corner ... so you're either on a corner lot or something else is up ...? The pictures you're submitting are for gardening. If you want pictures for landscaping you need to go out into the street and take pictures looking back toward your property. From exactly one point of view, do a sweep with the camera taking slightly overlapping pictures until we can see how your house fits into the picture. How are you going to plant ornamental grass and then a tree right next to it? The grass will need lots of sun and the tree will prevent it.

Typically, back yard neighbor's who are outside using their back yards do not want to see other neighbors who are also outside using theirs, or be seen by them. Serviceberry would make good backdrop trees, whereas the existing trees in the lawn will be shade trees and, presumably, limbed up, not being good for privacy. BTW, it is common that plantings for screening exist near property lines and that the foliage of these planting grow into the adjacent yards. That's a fact of life because everyone does not live on a 5-acre estate, but most everyone wants some degree of privacy from their neighbors. Privacy screens installed by one neighbor usually, simultaneously benefit the adjacent neighbor, which is why people do not mind this condition much, or at all, so long as the plants are not obnoxious or invasive.