Question
Sean, I'm moving into a new house with no landscaping on Oct 15. The area is Cleveland Oh, can I start landscaping my property this year (meaning, is the season too late to plant shrubs/ trees, ie. Arborvitae, Maple, Junipers, ornimental grass) or should I wait til spring, you can get good sale prices now :-). 2nd Q, I want lighting in the backyard (something more substantial than the barely visible solar path lights that people by for $10.00, and I also am thinking about a hottub someday, with 1 electrical box what do you recommend, would like a 2 flood lights as well. Thank you

Answer
For Ohio you can still landscape in Oct. but you need to get it in right away. I would avoid any small pots. For example for a fall install I would use 1 gallon ground cover not 4" or quart pots. This way if there is an early frost the roots wont freeze.
Waiting to spring might be better for smaller plants, this way they have a chance to root in before winter. But overall either time is fine.
As for lighting, your local home store sells kits for low voltage lighting that are pretty easy for do it your self application. Fixtures are usually around $40 each for decent fixtures. Avoid the cheap plastic kits. Or a lighting company can do your yard for an average of $200 per fixture installed (include wire, transformer, etc typically with a $1500 minimum. They will often set up the lights and let you preview them before burring the cable.
That is what I usually recommend to my clients.

Good luck
Sean J Murphy, LA,ISA, LEED AP
Please check out my blogs and articles on landscape topics like this on my websites.
http://www.seanjmurphy.com
http://amenityarchitects.com