When we moved into our home the previous owners had planted a few trees and three or four perennials. I had cultivated about 3/4 of acre at our little "farm" in Woodinville, near Seattle.

The first step in planning a garden is deciding what you want to grow. Near the house on the north or east side is a good place for plants like begonias and impatients. They do best with lots of shade and will take a lot of watering if planted in the direct sun more than four hours a day. A shady part of the lawn is also a good place for your lettuces in the summer. Here in Lexington the spring and fall are warm enough to grow cool weather cole crops like broccoli and cabbage in full sun but probably too warm most of the summer. Lettuce and cole crops will bolt if they get too warm so try to avoid planting them in direct sunlight during the middle of the summer.

I enjoy growing a variety of flowers and I especially like good cut flowers. I currently have a zinnias and snapdragons blooming as our mainstay for color but the gladiolas are beginning to show color. Kathy loves petunias and they ones I transplanted have finally rooted well . Kathy isn't much enamored with day lillies so we currently don't have any planted. All of the aformentioned flowers like full sun.

However we both like the asiatic lilies and the fragrant lilies like stargazer. Lillies do better if they are not exposed to full sun.

All of the hot weather vegetables should be planted where they get as much sun as possible. If you have less than 6 hours of sunlight a day I suggest you prune back some shrubs or trees if possible. Trying to grow hot weather crops without enough sun is a frustrating experience. The garden should serve as a place to recover from stress and not be a producer of stress.

One predominant theme you will discover in my garden writings is a strong passion that gardens should be places of recovery, places to rest, places to enjoy creation, places to daydream and places to feed the soul. If your garden is only a burden and a place of work then join a support group for gardeners. If such a group does not exist then start your own group.

Thomas Jefferson said, "Though an old man I am but a young gardener." In so few words he captured the essense of how gardening can make one feel.

It is my hope that if you have ever even thought about gardening that you will check out a few books from the library and begin reading and daydreaming about what your garden may look like. I suggest any of these books by Eliot Coleman as terrific books to help you begin a vegetable garden.

If you are most interested in flowers that give your garden lots of color see if you can find "Color Guide" at the library or ask a loved one to give it to you as a gift.

I plan to write about how to build healthy soil when I next write about gardening.

I have written before about how pitfalls, like emotional issues to avoid when pricing your home to sell. Today I want to give you a concrete example about pricing a home.

I just finished getting a contract approved on a home that was on the market less than two weeks.

First the negative details about the home?

It was not in good showing condition. A good friend helped the owner get the kitchen and adjoining family room organized and items off the wall and fireplace mantel. However the windows were very dirty, the walls had not been cleaned, much less painted. The dining room had about 20 boxes of books stacked in the middle and the living room had empty boxes and excercise equipment. Two of the three bedrooms were looked as if a small tornado had visited.

So how in the world did this home sell? The price was right and we did everything possible to accentuate the positve.

What was the positve that we accentuated?

When opening the front door a new hardwood foyer leads into the kitchen which has a new slate floor. The hot water heater leaked into the kiitchen a year ago, hence the new floors. In the comments to the agents I suggested they lead their clients directly into the kitchen bypassing the cluttered living room with excersize equipment. That first impression is SO important. Show them the house. You can't hide the messes but make sure they see the best first.

Another positive that I featured was the lot the house sits on. It is a very large lot that backs up to a farm and the home sits on a crest of a small hill. My photos featured the lot and the farmland behind the home.

I am amazed how often I see homes that have only a few photos. When I see that my first thought is that must be an awful home. It must be bad inside and even worse outside. Yet, when I have shown those homes I can always see things that could be accentuated to help the home sell.

How did the home get priced?

I searched for all the properties within the development that had sold in the past three months. This is exactly what the appraiser will do. Only two homes had sold but there were nine on the market within a quarter of a mile. The average home that had not sold was priced at over 90 dollars a square foot. The average time on the market was over 180 days. The two homes that sold were priced at 68 dollars a square foot and 71 dollars a square foot. They sold within 81 and six days. I had previewed the 68 dollar per square foot home before it sold. It was very clean, vacant and in good condition. The lot was not as large as my home and the location was not on a hill overlooking the farm.

I research the facts present them to the owner and let them set the price. I showed the owner the facts about the two sets of homes and asked him to set the price so that it would sell. He set the price at 75 dollars a square foot and it sold at 98 percent of the asking price in less than two weeks. This is not an isolated case. I just closed on one of my own propereties that sold at 96 percent of the asking price in 20 days.

Here in Lexington if the homes are priced to sell, and they are marketed by a professional realtor they will sell quickly. I had a lady call me and asked why her home had not sold. After asking her several questions it seemed as if the realtor was doing a good job of maketing the home. So it is no secret why the home is not selling. The Price is Too High! It seems to me the majority of owners are hoping to "win the lottery" when they sell their homes. I have never purchased a lottery ticket and I don't plan on doing so any time soon. So if you are a realist and you sincerely want to sell your home I can help you get that done.

A very good buy!

This home on Thames Drive has been now reduced twice. I showed it to a client a couple of months ago and I thought it a good price then. The price has now been dropped 7,000. This is a very good price in my opinion. A lot of home that is mostly updated for the price. It also has an unusually big yard with a lot of privacy.

A new listing worth checking out.

This is a lot of home on a very large lot that is certainly worth a look. This area is is close to the largest mall in Lexington and a very quick connect to The Circle. 104 Loch Lomond Drive is the address. The listing does not have many pictures but will soon. If the upgrades are well done this could be a terrific bargain.

I had another great experience just hanging out with my grandson this afternoon.

When I arrived Sam was in the garden with his daddy checking on the tomatoes. This is most pleasing, to arrive at my son's house and find both he and my grandson in the garden. My soul pines to be near things growing and near my children. What a special and blessed day.

So after walking through the tomatoes Sam led me to the basketball court and we shot hoops for quite some time. After I got too hot I took Sam indoors and we read a couple of childrens' books, sipped tea and relaxed a few minutes. Sam was ready to return to the bball court and I had yet to recover from the inferno.

I managed to make one more trip to the bball court but I was ready to just swing in the shade. Sam was ready to shoot basket, tour the garden again and help mow the lawn with his little plastic mower..

Promising New Listings

Here are two newer listings that I think may be worthy of further investigation. Both are inside the circle. The first is small but in a good location and the price is reasonable. Certainly worth another look if you are looking at buying in the 100K range. 114 Venice Park

The second house is in Gardenside and is priced very well for the square footage. Don Hudson the agent has lived in this area fro many years and is quite knowlegeable about what is a market price. This property is likely to sell quickly. 1733 Gettysburg Rd, Lexington Ky