1. "Whatever is worth growing at all is worth growing well. True. Growing well and growing perfectly are not synonymous. We aim for excellence, not perfection. I've removed many a rose that makes me look bad. 2. Study soil and exposure, and cultivate no more space than can be maintained in perfect order. Trans.: Don't bite off more than you can chew. See #1 on perfection. 3. Plant thickly; it is easier and more profitable to raise flowers than weeds. They didn't mulch. They applied manure in winter. The advice, brought up to date, is good. Open soil is an invitation to weeds. 4. Avoid stiffness and exact balancing; garden vases and garden flowers need not necessarily be used in pairs. True. 5. A flower is essentially feminine and demands attention as the price of its smiles. Nah. You can plant fussy plants or easy plants. Fussy plants are worth the trouble to some gardeners. Personally, I think it gets old. 6. Let there be harmony and beauty of colour. Magenta in any form is a discord that should never jar. Some like harmony, others like contrast. I like harmony, tho I don't have any issues with magenta in our bright sun. It's a problem for 5 minutes. 7. In studying colour objects, do not overlook white as a foil; white is the lens of the garden's eye. I suppose this works for some. White paint is a black hole for the gardener's time. I prefer natural wood. 8. Think twice and then still think before placing a tree, shrub, or plant in position. Think thrice before removing a specimen tree. Absolutely true. Know your plants. Trees add lots of value to homes unless they are 50 feet tall and within 20 feet of the house, in which case they are a big liability. Anyone priced tree removal of a 40 foot tree next to a house. 9. Grow an abundance of flowers for cutting; the bees and butterflies are not entitled to all the spoils. A matter of personal preference. I don't keep house plants, either. Keep on good terms with your neighbour; you may wish a large garden favour of him, some day. Always good advice. Love a flower in advance and plant something every year. Not a problem. Perennials by definition do no live very long. If they are long-lived, they are called shrubs. Show me a well-ordered garden and I will show you a genial home." A well-maintained garden is inviting. True enough.

I'll chip in because I've been fighting with my garden, and came to a few conclusions. For those of us in "rich" soils, i.e. clay or anything fairly high in organic matter, our drainage seems to be our downfall... I personally mix in mulch and peat to get a little organic material to provide a good starter soil for the bugs/worms to break down, then continue mulching to keep the organic material adding. Sand can be a solution, but more than likely we'll never be able to really improve drainage by just adjusting the top foot or two of dirt; the real action is down below and most of us (including myself) will never change that. So we have to deal with that top 2 feet and moderate our watering accordingly. The #1 most important thing with any plant that needs "sharp drainage" is Air. I know, you're thinking, well, duh... but if you think of it in the reverse, it makes more sense... water inhibits air, so balancing air is much easier if you know your water input. More than anything else, soil needs to exchange air. If you have a clay soil, organic material will be your best bet for the long term in fluffing. Until you hit like 30% sand by volume in your soil, it's not making much air space. Unless you're bringing in for beds, It's probably not worth the effort of adding because you'll need so much. Or at least this is the conclusion I've come to. Different soils and sands depending on their chemical composition can solidify into a hard pact material. A higher pH soil will run the danger of hard packing, or if your soil sometimes water logs. The ebb of acidic rain through high pH sand can harden the sand into a cement like material. If you're going to amend with sand, try to find some that is not calcium/magnesium based, i.e. no shells or anything that would bubble with vinegar. Play sand that is silicate based is usually fine. But the real thing I'm surprised about is that more people don't use an automated watering systems. I know in the west a lot of people do, and I get fantastic results with my drip irrigation system, even in my clay soil that I have ammended with peat and mulch. I find a small amount of water correctly placed on a regular basis can grow just about any plant. If you're placing just a small amount around the base of the plant, it can drain quickly and get air. Roots are more like lungs than anything. If you haven't looked at drip irrigation, it's hugely successful, and can mitigate poor soil by letting you apply water in a very targeted way instead of flooding the entire bed. Just my $.02 Here is a link that might be useful: Drip Irrigation Link

Some of the programs are useful. Nice to see the before and after pics of "Designed to sell". Food for thought more than anything. johnmarie wrote: "Our agent says that he has turned down many listings because people wouldn't Clean The D@mn House Already, and he wasn't going to waste his time trying to market a dog of a house." Your agent sounds wise. If I were an agent, I wouldn't want to waste my time working with slobby sellers either. I have walked through houses that didn't look like they had been cleaned in 10 years. One had dog feces all over the deck. We weren't able to see much with all the clutter. Needless to say, it was a waste of time for all concerned. It eventually went to foreclosure. triciae wrote: "Looks like the ad execs are bound & determined that we will watch & be influenced by those commercials..." Ad execs seem to think that it is not enough that you are inundated with loud commercials at a every break. What I find it even more annoying are the moving persons/objects that take up the lower left/right corner of your screen WHILE your watching the regular programming. As for the comment in triciae's link, New Style Commercials, "We all need to become more creative in how we incorporate sponsors into a program," said Ed Swindler, executive vice president for NBC Universal ad sales. "No one on the creative side or the business side wants to make commercials intrusive, but we do need to commercialize efficiently so viewers can afford to get free television." They ARE intrusive. I PAY plenty to watch TV. If this money isn't being used to pay for programming, what are we paying so much for? Patty_cakes wrote: "Are *real* buyers now 'taking note' of a home owners furnishing after watching shows of this nature? And worse yet, are they forming opinions to NOT by a house because of disliked furnishings?" No. I don't notice the furnishings. If I do, it is only to compare how MY furnishings might fit.

Hey everyone - thanks for responding. Sorry for the delay in my response, this weekend was busy and Trick or Treating with the kids last night have kept me away from the computer. I looked again at a piece of the original butcher block and I realized that there was a good amount of variation in color to begin with. I think that applying the oil stain brought out the differences in colors and in addition, made all the grain and specs pop. I think this was the biggest surprise for me and what was the most concerning. So I tried one more sample with gel stain (Minwax Mahogany gel stain) and I like the result much more. It had a great color and the contrast was more consistent with what I wanted. I think I am becoming a fan of this product. Thanks again everyone for your help.