Planting holly in chalk

I would like to plant some 5ft holly trees in an area of my garden. When I started to dig holes for them, I discovered that the ground consists of pure chalk - there appears to be no topsoil at all. I could add top soil/compost etc when I plant the trees, but will this ground hinder the growth of the holly? Does anyone have any suggestions? Many thanks.

 

Chalk makes for alkaline soil, whereas holly prefers slightly acid soil. You may have some problems with that. Adding compost won't do any harm (in fact it will help). Perhaps you could dig the holes deeper and much wider than is required for the holly trees, and fill with ericaceous compost. The trouble is, when it rains, if the rain water passes through the chalk and into your acid compost, it will gradually turn it alkaline.