Hi Guys: First, I want to thank you for answering my questions. As I suspected, I did not provide enough information in my original question which caused misunderstandings. I tried to make my original question short because I am a newcomer to this forum, and was hesitant to post a long question. Nandina, thank you for your advice. I do think you are right about the trial and error process (and maybe the book too). My husband and I write books on a completely different subject (special education law and advocacy) so that's a possiblity, if I learn enough and live long enough. : > ) First, I'd like to provide more information in response to your comments. Then, I'll post a portion of an article about the house that was just published in our weekly newspaper. The newspaper publishes a "Home and Garden" issue in the spring - one feature is "unusual houses." Our house was an "unusual house" this year. In "Earth friendly house," the reporter describes the house better than I can. In summary, we built the house to withstand winds of 130 mph (category 3 hurricane). Because of decisions made in the beginning, like building WAY above the flood plain, our insurance costs are very low. laag, I'm sorry I was not clear about our status. We live here full time. This is our only house. We lived in a small cottage (675 sq feet) for 10 years while we looked for a house or a fairly small lot (about an acre) that faced south on which to build. This is a popular sailing area for about 8 months, from April to November. However, because we write books and do training programs, we are away from home about 100 days a year. Re: costs: The house is about 3,000 square feet and cost $100/sq foot to build. This does not include appliances (purchased from Sears), the well, or the engineered septic system (Clearstream @ 13K) which we purchased separately, so the final cost was a little over $100/sq foot. Re; kurtg's comments about the septic system, the Clearstream system is located about 500 feet from the house. We decided to use an engineered system, not a traditional septic system, to ensure that nitrogen loading was not a problem. The 5 acres of land cost just over $300K because there was a bald eagle nest on the property. Anyone who wanted to build had to to negotiate with FWS for a permit. This is a difficult process that did not end until Hurricane Isabel blew the nest out of the tree. (The eagles rebuilt nearby) In the 1950s, the land was zoned into dozens of small (50 x 150 lots). We had the land resubdivided into 4 lots, one for our house and 3 additional lots. We do not plan to sell the lots, but if we have a financial emergency or become disabled, we have this option. We sited the house to take advantage of the sun to warm the house in winter and summer breezes to cool it in summer. Our electric bills are low. We just built a rainwater catchment system. We can store 2200 gallons and can add more storage tanks if needed. We have a propane generator. As a result, we can live "off the grid" for weeks. Re: comments about amenities and valuable stuff. This is a beach house. Because we were financially strapped after building the house, we used lawn furniture inside. It looked fine and no one worries about spilling stuff - everything is washable. Here is a description of the house from the article, "Earth friendly house captures the sun, the wind and the rain" by Tom Chillemi, Southside Sentinel. Pete and Pam Wright designed their home at Stingray Point in Deltaville to bring the outside inside ... Banks of windows face south and west to absorb the winter sun, warming the whole house. In summer, when the sun is at a higher angle, its rays bounce off the treated windows so heat gain is not a problem. Doors and windows on the second floor are open on warm days to let the hot air out and let in the cool Bay breezes. The Wrights have lived in Deltaville full-time for 12 years. Before that, they visited the area for decades. The Wrights built their house near the end of Route 33 on the Bay. Here, the Bay is almost 40 miles wide, so there is a lot of open water or "fetch" for wind to gain strength across the open water. So the Wrights engineered structural solutions to make the house stand up to the wind and water. First, the house is raised well above the flood zone on pilings driven 30 feet deep. But that makes the two-story house three stories high. Also because of it's "L" shape "it's like a huge sail so it catches the wind." To reinforce the house, eight steel beams were placed under the siding. The interior walls are "shear walls," which means vertical studs are braced with horizontal 2 x 4s every 4 inches. These studs are covered with plywood on both sides to prevent any twisting action of the house due to wind loading. All studs are secured with hurricane straps. The glass is rated to withstand winds of 130 mph. The glass doors latch and close in four places so water cannot be driven around the edges. The exterior is Hardy plank, a cement-fiber siding that resembles wood. The Wrights used flat roofs and gutters to create a rainwater collection system (see related story). For those folks who have read to the end, that's the story (or most of it). Take care, Pam

Last fall I built a couple of raised beds in front of my house in which I placed ten Japanese Holly shrubs. I built the retaining walls of the beds with concrete blocks on a concrete foundation. I filled the beds with screened topsoil brought in from a local (Raleigh, NC) supplier. The holly plants seemed to be doing very well until a few weeks ago when I noticed the leaves on one of the shrubs were turning brown and curling. This symptom is now becoming apparent on shrubs adjacent to the worst affected plant. The bed that contains the sick plants is pretty shallow and therefore, of my two beds, is probably the most affected by lime leached from the new concrete and mortar from the bed walls. I will try the acid and iron treatment recommended in earlier postings. I intend to post results of the treatment in a future posting.

Debbie, After I dig the hole for the tree, I use a knife and cut the roots on the side of the root ball so the roots will integrate into the soil. Then I put the tree in the hole and back fill it with native soil, the soil you dug out in the first place. Then I water it real good, every other day the first week after planting. If it doesnt'look like it's dying, then I am going to guess that you didn't cut the roots of the ball on the side. You didn't put anything back in the hole but the regular soil, right? Did you put alot of cow manure in the hole? They will probably be alright, just wait til spring and if they don't grow any, dig them up and cut the roots on the ball. Oh, and don't forget to mulch them. Mulch at least 2 inches, nad not too close to the trunk.

Probably something haywire with the planting soil, like extreme pH or nutrient situation. Likely would have done better planted into the existing soil, without modification (other than loosening) or replacement of existing soil.