Help with landscape design

I've learned to keep my mouth shut online, though I knew that already. No real professional looks at something without walking it re showing up with some kind of design, not that I haven't ventured here a couple of tmes - hard to be quiet re design.

There are at least two of us on here with creds re landscape design, and maybe more that I don't know about. We can shoot off opinions, but it is not our preferred adventure when we're not working.

Better you look to your local landscape contractors (who, at least in california, are licensed to design a site they will build) and landscape architects, many of whom eschew small residential design (in contrast to me and other land archs - I didn't go around eschewing). There are landscape designers in california but there is a law (far as I know) re allowable actions re things like grading without either a contractor or architect's license. In Illinois, I have no idea.

Your knowledgeable local landscape contractor will have a clue re local ecology/plant material appropriate for your site, and presumably have a a clue re matters like drainage, soil, erosion, et al.

As a land arch, I'll say cheerfully that many land contractors are idiots. But then so are many of us land archs.

The best of both groups are interested in the specific project at the specific site.

Its difficult to get a feel for what the client wants and that is sympathetic to house neighbourhood topography and existing infrastructure on the internet.

a2K is a good place to get ideas that you can take to a landscaper though so post away.

I agree with dadpad re batting about ideas. I wish more people would think of batting them around....