That'll work. Just make sure you mulch the plants with something appropriate such as pine straw or (preferably) pine bark.

Ok. Wasn't sure because I heard I can make things worst by doing spot treatment, but I don't have a tiller and am trying . to slowly change the soil. thx!

I doubt you have any problem with the compost addition. The only question I would have is about the drainage in the holes. If you dig a hole in clay that won't drain very well, then put a plant in it with loose fill, high organic content, you can create a plant in a non-draining bowl (known to some as the bathtub effect). Are the areas in raised beds, or doe the areas drain reasonably well?

Not really sure. It is not a raised bed, and I would say mostly clay surrounding the plants. What else should I do?

How well does the soil drain, naturally?

It's the perennials that would concern me. Over time the compost will continue to degrade. If there is much in the bottom of the holes the plants will settle lower. Around the plant a lot of compost in a clay hole may create a bucket of sorts that will collect and hold water.

My own preference is to use plants that can handle the native soil, dig a wide hole a bit less deep than the plant root ball, then backfill and cover with the native soil (well broken up) to create a slightly raised planting surrounded by a large amount of well worked and loosened native soil. You can mix some compost in with the native soil, but I would limit it to no more than ~ 10% by volume. You can then put on ~ an inch of compost the over the top, then 2"-4" of good mulch over that.

I guess it is to late now since I already did the spot thing. If they die, I will have to make sure I turn the soil in a larger area to mix it in better. Darn it! I am also going to turn in the wood chips that I applied this year next spring. I am going to wait until they are all brown before I do that. Hopefully, I will have some plants survive. The first 3 inches are great. It is after that where all the heavy clay is. Like rock. The perennials I planted are snow cap daisy and tickseed.

Most likely, they will grow fine and do well. If the upper few inches drain well, then a heavy rain will most likely move down to the heavier clay, then try to run out laterally.

I am not so blessed - our native soils are clay, clay, and more clay - from 0 to>80". It's heavy, expansive clay. We try to mostly plant above the surrounding finish grade. Still, there are a lot of trees and shrubs that do quite well in the stuff, and those are the ones we try to stick with for permanent plantings.

Mine was at once very heavy clay as well. Leaving wood chips and leaves to rot is the only reason why the first 3 inches are fine. Lol!

that's how we plant in clay as well except that we add lots of gypsum in and around the hole and planting site.

len

Here is a link that might be useful: lens bale garden

How do you know if you have clay soil?

Clay soil will have, by USDA soil texture definition, at least 40% clay content and up to 100% clay content. You typically know when you dig in it, or try to work it, especially when it is moist. There is a simple method to a assess soil type by hand textural feel (link below)

Here is a link that might be useful: Guide to Texture by Feel

cb-garden, more information about where you are is needed as well as a description of the soil you have. Soil particles ae classified by shape and size with sand being the largest and, generally, roundest. Silt is next in size and still rounder but much smaller then sand, with clay the smallest and flatest of the soil particles. They are kind of like this, sand 0, silt ., clay_, If your soil has large particles and is fairly loose and feels quite gritty it most likely is sand. If your soil feels quite smooth and greasy (kind of like talcum powder), sticks together and seems to compact easily it is most likely clay.

It's back-breaking work, isn't it...I have to take a pick-ax to my clay soil here in VA. I do what you do - dig a deep hole, backfill with compost & plop my plants in. I am hoping that as I fill in plants over time, the whole area will eventually be amended, but it will be a long while!

Improving your soil overall using things like compost is obvious a very good idea, but I don't think backfilling with straight compost when you plant is advisable. The plant is going to have to live in your overall soil conditions eventually, and you are planting it in an artificial environment which is completely different from the conditions it will encounter once its roots get beyond that hole.

When I lived in Wisconsin, I had a lovely courtyard that was all clay. Like others, I'd dig a hole, put fresh dirt in it, and plant the plant. Unfortunately. the roots wouldn't get any larger than the hole! We were about to put in some stone made raised beds, and I worried about drainage under the beds. So before we did that, I pulled out all of the healthy looking plants from their holes, and got a tractor in there to remove about 18 inches of clay. We then recovered it with some lovely dirt from a dried up river bottom. Oh, it still had some clay in it, but we were able to mix compost with river bottom dirt and then spread that out about 20 inches deep in the courtyard. They waited until that was rained on and settled before they built the raised beds. Under the raised beds, we mixed a lot of rocks into the soil to improved drainage. After that EVERYTHING grew well. It was a lot of work, but well worth the effort.

Now I'm dealing with compacted sand, and are doing cover crops, tilling them in when they're still fairly small, and planting more cover crops. I also use compost around the cover crops. The compacted sand was miserable to work the first couple of times it had to be dug in, but it's getting easier. Sigh! Gardeners are persistent, if nothing else.

Bettk, your plants are in, just wait and see how they do. Conditions vary so much - even amongst clays, there are so many types - that it's impossible to predict.

If you have trouble with plants dying and it seems to be from too much moisture - as opposed to summer heat and drought or pests and disease - try planting higher next time. We've had good luck in our MO clay soil planting things high and mounding up soil and mulch around the root ball. Trees and perennials do much better that way.

I also agree with the comment that you should always blend soil amendments with the soil you dug out of the hole rather than backfilling with 100% of the amendment. The convenient side effect of this is that you have too much to fit back in the hole, which helps you plant 'high'.

If these plants don't make it, I am going to mix the compost better than try replanting. The soil is slowly getting better every year. I dig in the wood chips I put in the beds every year after a whole year as gone by. Thanks everyone.

I have clay soil as well. Your planting was fine but I have found that I must compost every spring and every fall to keep the plants healthy, and eventually modify the soil for acid loving plants. Check with your local city or recycling tars co to see if they make compost available free at their center. You'll save a bundle and it works. Sometimes, in the spring I mix the garden compost from the recycler with some manure to balance it.