I fired him last week and hired a new guy to cut the grass, but he's too busy to plant, or clear a new bed for me (about 30" x 25', currently covered with grass.

The plants are at the nursery and can be delivered within 2 days--and I cannot return them. I don't have a huge budget, but other gardeners have told me it's a 1-day job with 2-3 guys doing the work. (They're backed up until July.)

Can anyone suggest someone who can come quickly? I'd be happy to pay in cash, if that helps, supply lunch and drinks, and the pool is open if she/he/they need to cool off.

Thanks for any help--I am desperate and can't do the work myself, thanks to a disability.

I had three gardener/landscapers out this week. Estimates were all over the place. Loved the guy who felt $13,000 was a good start. Hello?

At any rate, the third one and I saw eye-to-eye on everything, and while he's still expensive, he's willing to take the proper care in the process and not take my entire life savings. And so we are ready to go! He starts tearing out my ugly old beds this weekend; by next week, it's all going to be gorgeous.

Wheeee!

Enjoy your garden, when it's all finished!

So far, so good. Saturday they ripped out the horrid old front bed and built two new beds for me. Tomorrow (well, technically, today) they're coming to plant.

I'm convinced I don't have enough, but time will tell. I bought a lot of 1 gallon shrubs to save money--they are really small, but the nursery assures me they'll grow just fine. I've got a few bigger things that should do the trick.

I just hope my plan works.