The gravel hadn't been added in until recently. The building is floating which is why I delayed with it. But I added a layer of dirt underneath the building so the gravel would stay in place.
As I walked around using bone meal to grow the trees, I discovered the roof was too low for the pine trees to grow, no matter how much bone meal was applied. To remedy this I raised the roof one level and tried again. Now they will grow, however the saplings still remain stubborn. They seem to need more growing space than the others. This fix also changed the outer appearance of the building, giving the top edge a little more shape.
I haven't added the water system yet, and may not do that until after the first round of the city has been built. I'm going to calculate the assumed number of Testificates I will have inhabit the village, and build their houses probably last. Then in the second round of construction, I'm probably going to move all the buildings to the ground and begin working on the unified water/lava system. Here's a pic of the tree farm with most of the saplings grown.
