Fungus amungus,landscaping logistics,& other noob adventures

OK here goes :)
I have 3 bushes in my front, the name escapes me.. yellow and green (i think they are called golden eu...... something) they have what appears to be a bunch of white specs on them, little 3D dots.. all over the underside of the leaves and stems. I lost one last year to this. I noticed two of them have brown leaves under the new growth and are thinning out like the one I lost last year... is there a spray I can make or get for this?

Im in Lynchburg, Va and have lots of plans this summer, including dry river bed walkways, raised gardens, mulching, etc... so here is my situation. I am going to need a load of large river rock, small/medium river rock, would love some rip-rap, compost/soil for beds, straw... how in the world can I get all this. I think they charge like $50 a trip everywhere I have seen.. anyone have any ideas? I really need this stuff, but can't afford $50 a pop and the materials....

Where is a good place to rent a tiller? I would like to till up my garden area and some beds.

Suggestion time :)
what is a good quick growing cascading plant? I have some ugly walls Id like to cover.

Sorry, I don't know about your bushes. You will probably have to have the rocks delivered and unloaded. Lowe's rents trucks or you could rent a U-Haul truck. What is 'rip-rap'? What kind of wall are you trying to cover? You should call several places about renting a tiller. A friend of ours that worked a Home Depot said they charge to much.

yeah, I am hoping I can find a dumping 1 ton truck to rent or something.. then I can just go get it, bring it back dump it, repeat... Rip-Rap is large limestone rocks you see on hills or under bridges... I am going to use it in my dog's large fenced in area. that way they don't push all the mulch down the yard, gonna give them areas to lay in and walk in.. if I just throw mulch up there it works its way down the small hill.. this will be a buffer for it, making small pockets.
I think Ace Hardwear or Aztec rentals has them up here I will check. Yes home depot wants a lot.

Your shrubs are probably some sort of Euonymus...here are the ones in Plant Files, maybe you can find a match. http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/adv_search.php?searcher%5Bcommon%5D=&searcher%5Bfamily%5D=&searcher%5Bgenus%5D=euonymus&searcher%5Bspecies%5D=&searcher%5Bcultivar%5D=&searcher%5Bhybridizer%5D=&searcher%5Bgrex%5D=&search_prefs%5Bblank_cultivar%5D=&search_prefs%5Bsort_by%5D=rating&images_prefs=both&Search=Search There's some sort of scale that they're susceptible to...if you can post a picture of the stuff you're seeing on them maybe someone could confirm whether that's what you have or not. Or Google Euonymus scale and I'm sure you'll find some pics.

For your cascading plant--you don't mention what zone you're in, but if you're in the zone 7 part of VA then you might consider one of the trailing varieties of rosemary. They look really pretty cascading over a wall and do grow pretty quickly. They do attract a lot of bees when they bloom though so if people are going to be spending a lot of time in the area then you may want to consider something else. Here's a pic of mine--plants are about 2 yrs old right now.

thank you!!!! that is exactly what it is!!! Im going in to get the little buggers this weekend and save those!

I am in zone 7, and it just so happens I have a bunch of Rosemary ground covers in seed.. I have also found some sweet Giant Strawberries and Hanging Ivy leaf geranium.. both cascade beautifully, but look better in window planters. Your pic is awesome.. that rosemary is beautiful! I absolutely love those steps!!! I am going to plant it next to my concrete block walls with some winter creeper and Evergreen Vinca behind.. I think the combo of dark green foliage and bright purple and blue flowers on a drab grey wall should pop nicely! I am such a sucker for contrasts! Which leads me to another question.

Where would you guys recommened I try to go and find metal scraps? I want to get some square steel or the like planters welded up spray with some type of acid to make it rust right away into a orangy (thats got to be a word :)),red, rust color...
I am a graphic designer for an archery company and we have an in house machine shop, so there are lots of people that can teach me to weld. I noticed in our metal yard we have these awesome tubes that are rusted about a foot in diameter and about 5ft tall.. could be cut down and made into different height "raised" planters.. Just need to see how much I can get a few for. I love the thought of green and rust together... I would love to get some square ones done with scrap metal... Would be great to find some and some old fencing for a trellis...

Are you sure your rosemary will be the trailing kind? Many of them are more upright and shrubby--mine is a specific cultivar 'Prostratus' that lays flat or trails if you hang it over the edge of something. But if you started yours from seed I would suspect they'd probably be the upright sort.

i can't find the order now.. but it was in the ground cover section.. I will check, might have to order a different kind...

If it was in the groundcovers then it's probably OK--I wasn't sure if they were just generic rosemary seeds in which case who knows what they'd be!