Given the consistency between tests, I don't see too much chance that all four are off, no. Let's begin at the beginning. All recommendations are for everything except the holly, which actually likes soil like this (there are plenty of plants that actually prefer poor soils). For the most part, I won't quote the holly bed in the stuff below. Big point: stop using the compost. It's probably got way too much phosphorus in it. Standard depth of soil testing is 4 inches, so some numbers aren't quite as bad as they look. I'll adjust recommendations accordingly. ME 10-13: Sand with silt, and a nice place to be. Once we stabilize this--in a few years as it's really far off--you can probably test every 2 or 3 years and be fine. pH 4.8 - 5.5: Very low, but not the lowest I've ever seen by a long shot. My own initial test was below 4.8--4.3 if memory serves. We'll fix this under calcium, magnesium, and potassium below. OM 5-12%: Good to extraordinary, and you don't need any more at this time. While I wouldn't mind seeing the Right Bed area come up to match the others, I don't want it badly enough to add more phosphorus! Sulfur 13-15: Completely normal numbers and entirely appropriate. Phosphorus 1282-2187: You don't quite take the crown for highest phosphorus I've ever seen (that was over 2,400), but it's close. Avoid any and all phosphorus sources (hence the recommendation to avoid the compost). Soybean meal is OK as it only contains 1% P versus 6.25% N. However, even with organics, never use anything that's above a 1:4 P:N ratio. That pretty much means soybean meal. Calcium 37-54%: The Right Bed is actually not awful, while everything else needs a serious boost. In this case, with your low pH, I don't recommend dolomitic limestone--use a good calcitic like Encap, Mag-I-Cal, or Pennington Fast Lime. But don't throw out the dolomite, I want you to use that as well to raise the magnesium levels at the same time (just very slowly). Magnesium 4.3-7.1: Low to low-ish. 30 lb/K of dolomitic this year will very slowly work to raise this. It's not an emergency, most plants do OK at 4%, they just prefer around 10 in a soil of your EC. Potassium 1.0-1.5%: Quite low, the floor value would be around 2.5%. I'm actually a fan of being in the 4-5% range. We use potassium sulfate (sulfate of potash) to fix this, which you can get from some garden or landscape stores, or they'll order it for you. Minor Elements: I wouldn't mind fiddling with boron, but you have so many other issues that I don't wish to do that--and I'm not completely sure what will release from the organic matter in your soil. So hands off that for this year. Iron is great, none is needed. Copper 36-60 PPM: These are through the roof...and there's not much we can do about it. Some types of organic matter (manure compost, I'm looking at you, here) will contain large amounts of some elements. Apparently yours had excessive copper. I have to do some research to be sure, but this shouldn't be much of a problem...I hope...however, avoid any copper source, no matter how small. Zinc is also quite high, but that's not a problem. Aluminum is extremely high, but raising your pH will overcome any possible problems from that. It's not an issue unless pH is below 5, and not a severe issue until under 4.5. Recommendations: Now: Apply 9 pounds per thousand square feet Encap, Mag-I-Cal, or Pennington Fast Lime. Apply 15 pounds per thousand dolomitic limestone. June 1: Apply 3 pounds per thousand square feet potassium sulfate. September 15: Apply 3 pounds per thousand square feet potassium sulfate. October 15: Apply 9 pounds per thousand square feet Encap, Mag-I-Cal, or Pennington Fast Lime to everything except the Right Bed--apply 3 pounds per thousand there. Apply 15 pounds per thousand dolomitic limestone everywhere.

Ok, so here's the list I'm thinking now. Black Tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica) Thornless Honey Locust (Gleditsia triacanthos inermis) Zelkova Serrata Spruce 4a (Blue Spruce) 4b (Norway Spruce) Downy Serviceberry I like the idea of the Chinese elm and the planetree but I'm thinking this list gives the church 3 solid tree's that are good shade trees. The spruce that I was asked to include and a good small flowering option. All of these are at least moderately salt spray tolerant. Plus I'll be there for the discussion so I can always throw in the plane tree, elm, tulip-tree, and maple as alternates if this list is way off from their hopes. Does this seem reasonable?

True, our summers are not remotely comparable to a hot US summer...but I think that the effects of heat on nursery plants are not limited to the hard-standing...especially since it would be effectively shaded once plants are standing in place. However, reflected heat from a pale gravel mulch can have a more deleterious effect than plants standing on a darker bitumen surface while the traditional black plastic pots are probably rather more likely to create heat stress in plants. Regardless of the surface, ALL potted plants need daily summer watering...even in the cooler UK. The traditional remedy is to set up shade cloth since this is far easier to do than to make changes to the flooring surface...and also orientation of rows will also have to be considered. As a rule, I like to pack my pots tightly together (helps to regulate ambient temps) so using square pots minimises waste space. I raise all my plants from seed (and cuttings) and always, the greatest losses occur during summer.

The drive is 650 ft long with a slow curve pretty much the entire way. The inside of the curve (the side visible in the pictures) catches a lot of the runoff from the hill and eroded quite a bit as it formed the gully. I had two 15 inch culverts put across the drive a third and half way up to divert some runoff to the other side. Rock is used fairly common in this area (southern middle TN) to control erosion and control runoff. It was recommended by several contractors in the area and both of the builders I am getting bids from. The ground cover is landscape cloth that I purchased from a construction materials company that was recommended for this application. As for other options, I could have posted sooner here to get other ideas. I had though of concrete but that would have been cost prohibitive for me. I had seeded the area but the runoff did not allow seed to take in the gully. For mowing / edging I would either round up the edge of the rock or transition to a grass that won’t need to be mowed. thanks again for all the input.