The soil above should come in at a pH in the neighborhood of about 5.2 - 5.5 before liming. Gypsum has no, or nearly no effect on soil pH, and tomatoes growing on prefer the soil in the 5.2 - 5.8 range, so it hardly gets any better. When you factor in the tendency for soils to climb in pH as they age, you should be just right. I never worry about soil pH in container culture. If a hobbyist tells me, "I maintain a soil pH of ______", or even give a narrow range pH and claim to be able to maintain it, I immediately suspect the veracity of the claim, even if I don't challenge it. As hobbyists, we can generally point the pH in the right direction, and that's about as good as it gets. Trying to maintain pH at any predictable potential is an exercise in futility because of the number of factors that vary by the hour and have large sway on container soil pH. Al

Ornamental grass could work for the full sun area except for the short time after you trim it back. There"s a pic of my ornamental grass posted on a recent thread..one of mine I think. I posted it for Tree. Pots are problematic for me...I am never obsessive enough with the watering.

How large is the container? That will determine what you put in the pot. I want to put them in the rear of my home on either side of the garage. The area is West facing, so it gets great morning sun. ( East is morning sun, west is PM sun but either should be ok ) Can anyone suggest a nice not too tall evergreen that would be pretty hardy and also disease/bug resistant? Look for drawf evergreens, or conifers. Dwarf means that it grows slowly and will not outgrow the container ( in a few years) Eventually they will need to be moved into your yard. Also look for plants that are hardy in zone 5 or lower. I assume that you are zone 6. Not in your post. One zone lower will allow the plants roots to survive, since in will not have the earth to protect it. The pot is exposted all year to all elements . Should I drill a few holes in the pots? Absolutley ! Many - Drainage is the key to sucess. Should I put "peanuts" or rocks in the bottom? I don't want them to topple over in the winter winds. If they topple the plant may be too big for the pot. Peanuts and rocks are not needed to improve drainge, they only take away the space avaiable for the roots to grow. (Look at Al's post on perched water table - In container Garden Forum. Lots of holes and a screen is all you need. Bagged potting soil is light weight and not that good for trees and shrubs in containers. The soil in the mixes you buy , are mostly peat, and over time compress, resulting in roots not being able to breath (yes roots need to breath) The peat is ok for annuals - short term - Go to the Container forum and look for Al's Gritty Mix, It requires that you go out and buy the ingriedients, but it will last much longer and be much better for the tree ( or anything you put in a container. Also, can I use regular garden dirt or do I need a version of Al's Potting Mix? No Dirt, it will just compact - yes to Al's Mix - either one works IF I need Al's what version for evergreens? Either will be good. You may have difficulty with finding some of the ingriedients , if you post your location, I will help. The Gritty Mix is heavy and has the best drainage. Thanks in advance for responses! Plants - You will need to confirm you are zone 6 Dwarf Hinoki Cypress Dwarf Alberta Spruce (altough it does get spider mites, it works great in containers)I think eastern exposure would be best. Dwarf Globe Blue Spruce Boxwood - many Juniper Gold Cone Juniper Blue Star Dwarf Arbrovatae -�Rheingold� arborvitae Also some of the smaller conifers will be grafted high and look like a ball on a stick, This will give you more height, and can be underplanted with perenials Mike You will need to ocassionally fertilize. If you read Als post it will tell you that over ferlizing is bad, and a weak soultion of liquid fertilizer is good. If you need more info. just post. Here is a link that might be useful: my blog

The above image is one from google streetview. Here is another angle: There appears to be several in a row, variously pruned. A second type of shrub is in the row also, possibly boxwood. The plant of the first image is on the left here.