has no one posted here of late. it's been a week & this is still at the top of the page. I planted some buckeye's in pots & some have already sprouted. as I already stated many of last years nuts did not overwinter when I stored them. they just shriveled up. this year I'm planting everything. I do not have room to try & keep these indoors so i'll heel in the pots. but-when I plant the nuts how can I protect them from squirrels? I'm thinking about putting some rocks around them & putting a piece of plywood on the rocks. that would allow some room in case any shoots poke their heads out of the ground. i'll plant them in a tight cluster so it should not require more than 1/2 of a sheet.

It is hard to tell from your posting whether the trees have been in the ground for a number of years or if they are newly planted. If they have been there for a while, then watering MAY not be the problem. Check around the roots and see if it is especially dry. Mulching would help keep whatever moisture there may be at the root level, to do some good, since I am assuming that it's more likely to be dry than wet. If it doesn't seem to be moisture that is the problem, I would take a few branches/twigs/leaves to your county extension agent - look in the phone book under state or county agencies - and see what they can tell you. You can also take them to a GOOD nursery, if there is such in your area, and try to talk to the manager/owner. If you talk to one of the employees, they MAY not know anything - I would be slightly suspicious of any response that immediately tries to sell you "this great product", although, in fairness, you may need one or the other of the products! If the trees are newly planted (within the past year), then probably, since you say you are in drought conditions again, they need more water. You can save the water that you run in the kitchen or bath faucets, waiting for the hot water to get there, and use that for watering - I would use most of a bucket on only a few plants, rather than a bit on all of them, as that way the whole root system will get wet. If you can't do that, then I can't think of what else it might be of use - posting a photo would help.

OK, I'm game to start... Your soil test results show that there has been way too much unnecessary fertilising going on in your gardens. You say "Mom used to spend a lot of money on miracle grow garden soil and some kind of rose fertilizer. She would just give that to (every) thing growing in the yard." And " I figured the bottle brush was needing some too, so i poured about 2 or 3 pounds of epsom salt around the tree and waited." There's really no reason for you to throw around fertilisers willy-nilly, without knowing the reason for it. For your bottle-brush (Callistemon) specifically, they hate pretty much ANY fertiliser, but especially phosphorous, which will kill them dead. And your soil test indicates very high levels of phosphorous. Personally, I'd cut that plant down to about 6" high and see if it re-sprouts. They survive this treatment very well and grow back big and fast. (Unless it's already past the point of saving.) In the meantime, I'd stop using any bought chemical fertilisers and continue with what you're doing now, just adding leaf mulch, compost and maybe a light dusting of blood/bone meal. Then, in a year or so, get another soil test done for comparison with this one.

I doubt that your compost is a problem. It sounds like you have applied it properly. You have the perfect storm for fungal disease, rain and high humidity. I think spring is prime time for powdery mildew and black spot. at least for me. Once summer heat kicks in hopefully those issues will lessen. You can spray with Neem oil. I spray after the sun goes down and the bees are safely in bed. That should help.