BTW - I am in Athens, GA
The area in question gets full sun until 6pm.
I have clay soil - hence the truckloads of compost and mulch.
Thanks!

The plants themselves are very fine for you...my only tip would be to make sure you dig VERY VERY deep. The clay will be part clay/part soil for like a foot...then you often reach the nastiest, hard red clay ever! You need to also amend that hard-pan or else it holds too much water without draining and just kills plant roots.
So for your first experiment, dig a hole like 2.5' deep and you can tell then how far down you need to go to get it all well amended!

Good luck! It will be beautiful!

Since you are doing a large area, renting or borrowing a tiller to prepare the area would be a good thing.

Thanks for the comments and tips. I was thinking about preparing the bed and in my back yard, I have had great luck with raised beds and the lasagna garden method. I plan on putting 5-6 inches of compost and partially composted mulch on top of the grass and not incorporate at all. I have found that where I did this in other places over the past 3 years that the organic matter really does incorporate itself over time. That and I am scared to dig too deep as I am planting right in front of a row of established bushes.

Katy,

One problem I see if that adding 5 - 6 inches of compost directly in front of your established shrubs MAY harm the root system of the shrubbery, if the root system extends into that new area. Sorry I can't be more specific, but hope someone else will supply the info.

Rosie in Sugar Hill

Hi Rosie - I would love to see that information. All the Cooperative Extension publications I have read say that shrubs, bushes and trees benefit greatly from being mulched with compost.

In addition to being lazy, I have taken too many conservation tillage and no-till courses over the years that I can never bring myself to till up garden. It just works so well to top dress and not disturb the ecosystem of the soil below. I think the key is plenty of organic matter on top and lots of patience!