[fastpat]

We're having a landscape architect work out the details of what should go where, and to work out the details of somethings we have in mind, but need a pro to flesh out. In particular, an entrance gate for a driveway that is unusual in that it makes a hard 90 degree turn just after you enter our property. We need a gateway designed to take that in mind, and still keep an easement for overhead power lines clear. The power company may bury the lines in the next few years, but for now the easement stays the way it is.

The driveway, which is about 870 feet long, needs several stretches of retaining wall along it to hold back hillsides and erosion, probably about three places, each needing about 50-100 feet of wall. We have a steep, low lying area with very large, mature hard woods, and a spring that we want to make into a sort of nature walk, with a gazebo in which we can have afternoon tea (my wife's idea), or the odd luncheon and so forth. Then there's a few things we want to do in the area immediately around the house, decorative patios, an English knot-garden of sorts, and other things. The architect will have a complete plan for the whole works in a few weeks.