Since i'm not from your area, i can't say for sure, but at least around raleigh if you go thru the yard waste center (where they haul leaves and ground up trees from curbside pickup), you can get compost and mulch for a much, much cheaper price. Less than $20 a pickup truck full around here (which can only hold about a half a scoop). If you pay to have a load hauled, they can normally fit 2 scoops in so it's around $30, last time i did that for the compost cost (plus hauling). Yes, you pay more upfront, but often, less per cu ft because you can't get a full scoop on a pickup and you save the gas money and aggravation of driving back & forth for multiple loads. The upside to doing it slowly- pickup by pickup- is you don't have to store it- get what you can use as you work, and pace yourself. That may be a real consideration in a development with rules. You could also check on craig's list and see if you can find somewhere locally that gives away or charges a nominal fee to get horse manure/cow manure/chicken poop. Normally if it's well composted they don't smell much at all. And you need little to really help the soil- it's like vitamins for your soil, so you can spread that thin. Sometimes companies that grind up trees will deliver that material to you for free or little- saves them from paying to take it to the dump. You'd have to let that compost, but it doesn't take as long as you might think (couple months, if turned, esp softwood, ie: pine). If you look around and think outside the box, there are lots of options if you are willing to put in some elbow grease rather than money. Have you talked to some of the neighbors and asked what they did or are doing to have their trees and yards stay healthy? I do think that improving your soil is going to be the most effective thing you can do before you try to replant, for trees especially. Another thing to find out is if your house/landscape is still under any kind of warrantee. I don't know how long those are for, but it's worth checking into. Are you still in drought conditions out there? If you are, it's going to be hard to do much of anything but spread compost/mulch and wait til you get some rains to soften that clay a bit. The mulch will help soften it, so long as you don't get carried away. 24" of compost/mulch is overkill, by the way, unless you're going to til it in right off and even then that's a lot. Investing in a tiller might not be a bad idea (if you can afford it), or maybe you could borrow or rent one. Taken care of, they'll pay you back in spades.

I didn't think to do that, but I imagine it's about the same age as the house: 100 yrs old. Its twin is on the other side of the walkway by the new compost pile and is probably feeling surprised right now and wondering its fate. There was also a massive elm that died a long time ago, but I think they grow bigger. One limb heated the house for two years. That's the wood compost I now use. We cut that ourselves and couldn't move the pieces they were so heavy. By the driveway is another huge liquidambar (sweet gum) that was planted in the teens or twenties for Arbor Day. They were giving them out for planting and the original owners' kids planted them. Now I park my car under its shade, but worry about limbs falling. They look small far away, but are really heavy. There are quite a few of these beauties in the neighborhood from that time. The original landscapers and builders really thought about shading the house in summer and solar gain in the winter. They chose unusual species and natives as well. Such forethought is generally unheard of today, but it wouldn't be that difficult or expensive to incorporate these ideas that worked so well. I'll need to replace the awnings now that the tree won't shade the front rooms.

Wide and shallow - that's my new mantra. Root ball partly above grade. Raised beds. I was focused on helping root growth penetrate the clay. I'll see what I can do to improve drainage. I'm at the mercy of the variable seasonal rainfall. Thanks BossyV, I've read of your exploits elsewhere. That photo of the dry looking hole was from late March 2016. I've done better since then. We had decent rain a few weeks earlier, followed by some 90 deg days. The grass still looks dormant. I've read 'don't work with wet clay', but mine drains so slowly it's rare when it's not at least partly wet (well, most summers it will dry out severely...I've contemplated dropping organic material down the big cracks that develop in our area). The auger drill bit only works when the clay is somewhat wet, it pulls out nice thick curlicues. It won't penetrate hardly at all when it's dry. My soil plight was probably worsened during house construction, by heavy equipment causing more compaction. There also seems to be some crushed builders stone plowed under, in layers here and there. The first hundred weeds I removed from my new lawn with a weed puller (screwdriver shape), I usually struck a stone an inch or 2 beneath the weed. But life goes on. Thanks everyone for all the information, not what I wanted to hear but it's sinking in, live & learn.

These sunpatients grew fast and quick, the durantas in this spot keep getting drowned when it rains they haven't grown much. I'm thankful they haven't died yet. I will probably give these another month before attempting to shape them but everything is filling in.