Talk to gardeners, landscapers, nursery people, neighbors, etc. from your own area for advise on how they raise Citrus (amending the soil, raised beds, etc..). Your conditions in terms of soil condition, temperatures, humidity, etc. are completely different from conditions in the Southeast or East or any other areas where Citrus are grown (even if only containerized). But I would echo what other posters have said. Summer is not the time to transplant first mistake. You could next time hold off planting Summer purchased (often discounted plants) until the Fall or Winter months. (Citrus do quite well containerized or in raised beds due to improved drainage btw.) There is obviously some kind of drainage issue. Not matter how hot and dry your air temps are, Citrus are not going to tolerate muddy conditions. I would like to be optimistic, but prepare for the worst. Also, stop fertizing it! Will do nothing but aggravate the situation. On a positive note, I have had Citrus come back fully to flower and fruit from 100% defoliated trees. Good luck!

Okay, now....Bonnie has got to be the cutest little thang!! Daisy and Weasley are adorable, too!! I just love the little mask on the babes, thou. I guess mine is called a whoodle. It's fun to rhyme his name - poodle-doodle- wheatie - whoodle - I know, I get bored and hey, it's entertainment:) Oceanna, I knew I liked you for some reason - your a dog nut, too!! You showed and bred wheatens - WOW!! I am so used to laid back labs - this guy has got some zest!! He loves squirrells - quite obsessed. He really has been a good dog but he is very spunky!! He bites the kids butts and chases them around. He is very vocal on command (trained) and he just cracks me up!! He loves to romp in the neighborhood - comes back covered in mud and burrs in his legs! Do full wheatens have ear hair? That stuff is just funky!! I can't bear to pluck it myself. Didn't know if both breeds had the hair in their ears or not. Here is a pic - I guess he got the black from the poodle. He does have white sprinkled thru his hair but it doesn't show up in pics. He has the "tea cup tail" This is usually what he looks like - probably just back from a romp - visiting his doggie friends. Everyone in our neighborhood knows him! Now, back to topic- Arvorvitae plants are tall and evergreen - evergreens might be nice if you didn't want to do a deck. And, you know, the kids are only young once - let them enjoy the pool and just have a good time!! Smiles:)

Thanks, @gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9). I thought it had to be totally smooth so it would be smooth to walk on and wound't puncture the lining, but thx for the feedback! With the tarps it should be fine. Thx again!

@Mark Bischak - Thanks for sharing your example and experience with an above ground "basement" design (still not really sure what to call it, 1st floor?). My wife and I were actually looking at your profile last night and the houses you've designed. We saw these pictures and were like "hey that's similar (basement wise) to what we've got going on". I agree with your statement that it can be done but carefully, and I know what we currently have is not it. Maybe this is a good opportunity to take a step back and refocus what my original post is about because a lot of the comments seem to be more focused around "your plan is shit and start over", which it by all means it could be and we will get there eventually if it is. Obviously we’re not going to settle on a final design that we are not happy with and comments pointing this out are pretty irrelevant. We may have incorrectly started this process but we are in the middle of it none the less. I'd be much happier letting this play out rather than prematurely pulling the plug. To restate my concern: Is there any reason beside cost/framing/waterproofing/more concrete/plumbing complexity that our designer and builder are so averse to a below ground basement? Do people just not like building them anymore? I love our basement in my current house. And as I’ve mentioned in an earlier post, a below ground basement would make the current design work perfectly for us. I think @res2architect hit the nail on the head with his statement “I don't think you're getting good professional advice”. That said, we’re trying to engage more with the builder and designer but not having much luck scheduling meetings, getting prompt replies to emails, and returned phone calls. As I also mentioned, I want to give them the benefit of the doubt because of the holidays and the difficulties meeting in person because of covid. We’re currently under contract with the designer. Right now there are no contracts signed between us and the builder as we’re waiting on a completed design. So maybe we're just not high on the builders priority right now? We've currently only had one iteration of the plan with the designer so I don't think I'm quite ready to just hit the reset button. If we exhaust our efforts and do not produce something we are happy with, then we are only out several thousand dollars on a lesson learned but we will come out of it better. Sometimes the journey is just as important as the end result.