First of all a little background. I am a graduate of Cal poly Pomona, I am a licensed irrigator in California and Texas. I also own a tree farm in Texas . White Hall Trees. In texas we do not have gray clay we have black clay that is at least as bad as what we had as a kid in California( I grew up in Orange County) Now with that said. The problem that everyone seems to have is the same. You claim you cant get fruit trees to grow in clay. Being a Civil Engineer, Landscape contractor and LI for 30 years I have some basic recommendations. First Clay is an excellent way to hold water ! and fruit trees need water! But not so much as to be wet all the time. First raise the tree about 3" above existing grade. When planting dig the hole twice as big around as the pot and 3 inches shallower than the pot . When back filling around the pot use a 3/4 to 1/4 ratio of good composted material to the clay and Float the tree back in. Simply put add water to the soil to get out air. Then ad 3" of good hardwood mulch around the tree. The biggest problem that you have is water so call Ewing Irrigation or John Deere landscapes and get some Rainbird .26 Drip tubing on 12" centers and drip the trees! If you circle the tree with lets say 6 drip emitters and water for 10 minutes you water .26 gal of water. Lets say the tree needs 3 Gal of water per week in one hour you will water 1.56 gal of water. So water 2 hours per week ! You may need to water Tuesday and Friday for 1 hour each day and check the tree hole with a moisture probe you can buy at one of the local Home depots for about $ 10.00 The biggest deal is don't guess ! Test and check ! Make sure. If you need more than 3 gal of water per week they have drip tube in .26, .4,.6, and .9 Netafim, Rainbird, Hunter, and Landscape products all make drip tube ! Do the calculations and if you are unsure call an irrigation professional they can help. The guys at Ewing can also help if you ask and by the way if you bring donuts to them they even get nicer !!!!!!!!!!!! Try It !

The glaciers brought me all kinds of interesting soils, and it changes VERY abruptly. I guess some of it could have been due to farming in the 19th and early 20th century, but my yard was never graded or leveled or anything like that. I have sandy/gravelly soil, sandy loam, true loam soil, heavy dense clay. The only major soil type I lack is an organically based muck type soil. There are places in my yard where I can stand with one foot on heavy clay and the other on sandy loam. I think this is the work of the glaciers, I don't think it was human intervention. Yes, I like the idea of Mountain Laurel as well. I saw some very attractive ones in bloom about 2 weeks ago at a local nursery. They are not common here because our soils do run in the neutral range, and aren't acidic enough without intervention. Oakleaf Hydrangea also --something like 'Snow Queen' would be nice. Blueberries -- well, I already have 22 of those in another area, so probably not there, but yes, I think they are a fine ornamental, mine generally have excellent fall color, burgundy to red with just a little yellow and orange highlight. Possibly some azaleas of some type, I have a pink deciduous one in another area that is nice. Thank you so much for the suggestions.

I can grow pretty much anything in my clay, but how well it succeeds may depend on my watering heavily now and again. I look at my clay as a bonus, holds water better than sand or loam in the dry times. Something you can do is add dry stuff to the hole you plant in. I have a leaf shredder, so I save some of those little leaf pieces all year for adding to holes of new things. I have been quite surprised how well the leaf shreds attract worms, feed the roots on new plantings. Most of my leaves are Oak, so they stay a bit crisper than some other leaf varieties. I rototiller them into the soil, use as mulch on the garden beds. With Fall coming, you could get leaves from your yard, the neighbors, for adding to your plants. Lots of discussion on other forums about STEALING bagged leaves from the roadsides!! Running over the leaf piles with lawn mower works just as well as a shredder. Without a bagger on mower, you just have to pull the smaller pieces back into a pile for using. I really recommend adding leaves or leaf shreds, to anything you plant. Sure has improved my soil. However even with clay, you need to keep the plantings damp, especially in drought times, off to a good start, for success. Some shrubs need a year or two to get good roots going. I have been real happy with soaker hoses, saves on wasted water, to keep some plantings happy. My big Oaks do drink a lot of the rainfall, so some bushes need extra water, have soaker hoses.

Most virburnums do well in moist soil, and the twiggy structure works well as a privacy/barrier hedge. I have the species'Chicago Luster'growing on both sides of my back yard. One side is very wet, the other normal. It gets about 7/8 ft tall, flowers in spring and berries in late summer. Birds love it. My virbs are mixed with a variety of trees and evergreens, so I know it can take root competition and some shade. On the wet side, I also have a white (swamp) oak, that grew from a 9 ft baby into a huge 20ft plus oak in only 8 years. I have other Virburnums growing on my yard too. some for the delightful scent, and others for the fruit. I do like redtwig dogwood too, but it suckers so much. You have to have lots of land to contend with that habit. Oh, and Sambucas (Elderberry) loves moist soil. Gets as tall as you want too. Lots of new cultivars that are beautiful. Also suckers, but not so much. Pondy