You're kidding, right? In my region you'd pay $60 - $100 for good sized shrubs from a reasonably priced nursery. You'd pay about half that for the big box storesÂand they'd be about 1/3 the size. Think waiting 2 to 3 years for the smaller shrubs to catch up. Trees? Well, they'd be a bit pricierÂIs the work being priced just for the front yard? I've received several bids for a small landscape project in my backyard that would include re-grading mistakes of the distant past. (Note: You bet there's a warning here. Poorly done grading can mean water issues.) The quotes are coming in at $5,000 to $6,500, if we go with a newly paved patio after the grading. That's for a relatively small area of my modest overall landscape. You want shrubsÂa 50' hedge rowÂgrading seedingÂetc.? I guess I'm wondering who will evaluate the grade and get the drainage right, who will plan for decks, patios, walkways? What about exterior lighting, automatic watering? Sounds to me as though you already have this as cheap as possible Believe me, for 10k you'll get what you paid forÂand it probably won't be much. How much consultation with the LA will you have? Are you just receiving some sort of "standard package" or will the LA give you personal attention and all the different kinds of plan drawings that come with a professional LA? Are you getting the feeling of "Here's your grade work. There's your seed. Here's your row of hedge row shrubs. See ya' later!" (Sound of truck driving off rapidly.) If it were me, I'd be driving over to talk to this guy's previous customers. How happy are they? What does their landscape look like? I'd be talking with friends who have done landscape work that appeals to me and asking them what it cost. Either way, you might be better off putting $5,000 toward consultation with a reputable landscape architect firm for the purpose of developing a comprehensive site-analysis and exterior plan. The work doesn't have to all be implemented at once, but can be done in phases. I'd particularly recommend such a course for someone who aims to have low-maintenance. No landscape can be maintained without some care, and it takes thoughtfulness and planning to get something that is both attractive and relatively trouble free. A really beautiful home can be made into a sad, depressed looking trollop if the exterior work is done too much "on the cheap". Mistakes can damage your home and be costly to fix later on. Think in terms of spending 10 to 20 % of the cost of your home. That's the "rule of thumb" that's out there. Wellspring, who is just a homeowner somewhere on the low-cost-of-living prairie

I had to google "peony support" to get ideas, but it looks like it would be simple to rig something from found items. A slim, fallen tree branch or large twig for the stake and a modified wire coat hanger or baling wire hoop should be simple and effective and free, I would think. Good luck! Let us know what you do. I am including a link to a site that sells supports, as a potential template source. Here is a link that might be useful: Peony Support

My comment is about the concrete. (It applies to pavers too). It is a mistake I made that would be too expensive now to rectify. There is an area of the backyard in which we had concrete installed. (nicely done, with red brick borders. More expensive than you'd expect, after all it is just concrete!) To cut down on future maintenance, we had the concrete poured right up to the property line/fence that separates the neighbor's yard from ours. The concrete professionals asked if we wanted to leave the ground along the fenceline uncovered by concrete in case we wanted to plant flowers/shrubs/small trees. We said no, we did not want the work of maintaining a planting area. We had the rest of the yard for gardening purposes. Well, later the neighbor moved out, the little house was sold and then demolished. The huge avacado tree in the neighbor's yard that screened his yard from our yard was removed. ALthough the empty lot has been vacant for 6 months, undoubtedly the new home will be larger - much larger- than the original home. So now I would give anything to have a planting area where I could grow some hedges or small trees to screen out the new home which will overlook our house and much of our yard. So while concrete is no-maintenance, leaving enough area for future planting would be wise. Plus concrete is HOT and not especially relaxing if you enjoy plants and nature. PLUS pets who regularily do their business on concrete can make your little yard smelly.

I definitely need some calcium chloride for the next round of pickles. These are from 06 so it's not too surprising that they're mushy! I cut my 2008 bread and butter pickles into thicker slices and ended up with a texture more to my liking. So far I've pureed one jar of them and mixed with catsup and some additional spices to make sloppy joes. They were okay but a *little* on the "weird" side. My younger son said, "Hey, what's this whitish-greenish seed looking thing??" (I think it was a mustard seed!) and my elder son said, "I don't know, but I smell pickles!" LOL! Thanks for all the suggestions for ways to use these. The peas, pickles, and cheese salad sounds kind of, how shall I say....yucky! :-D I appreciate the idea, however, and just might find myself intrigued enough to try it some day! I don't really do macaroni salad, but potato salad is a thought, as are the deviled eggs. I have chopped up sweet pickles and put them into tuna salad in the past, so that could be another option. I've never eaten sweet pickles on a green salad--could be interesting! The tip about pickling the beets with the leftover brine sounds good, since I also have a couple pints of home canned beets lurking in the closet!