Lingering Force (duration node), Flaming Soul (CG damage node), Ashes to Dust (armor shred node), Destructive Impact (area node), Expedite and Sanctified Serenity (CG healing node) - all those are on the left side of the tree and in their description list “Fire, Melee, and Damage Over Time” as tags. If I knew how to image capture from the build planner to show the pictures here I would. So if somehow that is supposed to mean that “Melee” doesn’t influence effectiveness or damage of those nodes and consequently - Consecrated Ground itself then I need more explanation as to why that is. In addition, the Searing Faith node on the right side of the tree has the same tags as well. At the end of the day, I don’t really care since I’m not really looking to invest into %melee damage anyway, just trying to clarify what the “tags” actually mean then if you’re saying they don’t give “melee bonuses” despite having the “Melee” tag. And thank you Llama for confirming my tests, good to know I’m not crazy. 
What I am trying to learn from this post is: what is the best damage stat distribution to maximize the damage of Consecrated Ground? Is it better to focus on a few damage stats (in the effort to MAXIMIZE damage) for CG (Attunement, Strength, Healing Eff., DOT)? OR as indicated in this damage scaling guide Damage guide for beginners (completed) - HolyCoffee, is it better to spread out damage stats throughout your build and have at least 1 affix of each stat? - specifically for CG I am looking at the %fire dmg, %healing effectiveness, Strength and Attunement attribute points, %melee dmg, %fire DOT, and %elemental DOT stats. Thanks guys