All clay based soils do not have a drainage problem. If I am in doubt about drainage, I do a simple percolation test. Dig a hole somewhere close by about 18 inches deep. Fill it with water and let it drain completely, then refill again and this time keep track of how long it takes to drain completely. If it does it in 5 hours or less, your drainage is OK. I do not mix compost with my clay, I do mulch regularly out to the drip line. Al

Although I'm not from your area, I do garden in clay soil. Good stuff. I don't think the problem is that you have clay soil, I think the problem is that your clay soil is not covered with mulch. I would spread 1" of finished compost on the surface of the garden soil and then cover that with a mulch. I have used unfinished compost as a mulch, over finished compost, but I tend to use grass clippings or shredded leaves more often. If you use unfinished compost over the finished compost, keep it away from your plants by a few inches. I tried mixing finished compost into my clay. The clay seemed to eat that stuff up. It did improve the texture of the clay and darken it, but not dramatically. Plant roots do their best work close to the surface of the soil so just laying the finished compost on the surface will do the trick and it's lots less work.

You cannot water "by a formula"....you know, something like "water 3 times a week for 2 hours", let's say, because there are too many variable. The variables include not only how quickly or how slow your soil drains, but also how high your water table is, how wet or dry the soil is before you water, the composition of your soil in terms of clay/silt/sand/organic matter, the temperature, the pan evaporation rate, how windy it is, etc. Furthermore, different plants have different water needs. An 8-yr-old tree with deep roots normally can survive almost entirely on natural rainfall, unless you are in one of the driest parts of the state, but a 3-yr-old tree needs more frequent watering and a newly planted tree needs even more frequent watering. Bedding plants tend to need more frequent watering than perennials and shrubs. You also have to have a good understanding of how deep your particular plants' roots go. Watering deeply works for plants that have deep roots but not for plants that, by nature or by age, are more shallow-rooted. The whole point of deep watering is to get the water down into the plants' root zones and to encourage the roots to go deeply beneath the surface of the soil. Let's say you're growing a veggie garden. If you water deeply once or twice a week, the plant roots will go deeper in search of that moisture and, consequently, you'll have a more well-rooted plant that can withstand drought conditions. On the other hand, if you water for ten minutes a day, your plant roots will stay near the surface and the plants will wilt easily in the heat and will require daily or even twice-daily watering. Guess which veggie garden will give you better yields? With clay soil, you have to understand how well it drains or doesn't drain, whether it is well-amended or not amended at all. For me, one of the easiest ways that I learned how the soil drained at different locations on our property was by digging holes with a post hole digger, filling them with water and then waiting to see how long it took them to drain. (This is similar to the percolation test that is done before a septic system is installed.) In the area with the heaviest clay, a 2' deep hole took 4 to 7 days to drain. In the area with sandy clay, the hole drained in about 3 days. In the area with silty, sandy soil, it drained in less than a day. I don't necessarily recommend you go around digging holes in your yard.....but if you do, call and have all the underground lines, cables and pipes marked before you dig--you don't want to hit a natural gas line and blow up your house. It would be relatively easy to check and see how deeply water penetrates your turf grass, for example. Water for a set amount of time--let's say one hour--and then dig down with a trowel and see how deeply the water has penetrated. Then, water for 2 or 3 hours and compare the results. One issue with clay is that the surface becomes saturated and then, at that point, further moisture either pools/puddles on the surface or, if your property slopes, it runs off. Clearly you don't want to water so long that your yard is a pond on the surface, but the soil is only wet 3" down nor do you want to pay for water that is running down the road and into the storm drain system. Often, in order to deep water heavy clay soil, you have to water for a while, turn off the hose for a couple of hours, then water some more. Even though you do all the watering in one day or night, you may not be able to do it all in one session. If you are watering too much, you will know it because you plants will look miserable (often wilty and nutrient-deprived because the roots are clogged with water an cannot take up nutrients from the soil) or your soil will get that sour smell. Dawn

+oM, You're spot on with the variegation effect- the white and green, particularly when the sun hits it, can "meld together" and create a chlorotic looking specimen. I was excited about the new river birch Shiloh Splash only to find out that it looks good when conditions are shady or cloudy and looks sickly in the sun. To the original poster, I think the red-twigged dogwoods are a great choice and there is a newer selection from Silky Dogwood called Red Rover Dogwood that looks like a winner as well. This would be very well-adapted to wetter conditions. We have also had great success with Arctic Fire Dogwood which has a slightly more compact growth habit. I would also recommend buttonbush for the large glossy leaves, emerging burgundy foliage on the leaves, and the great pom-pom flowers. The selection offered from Proven Winners called Sugar Shack is smaller but most likely will get decent sized in time. So long as the area is not high pH you could also do the shrub form of River Birch called Fox Valley or Little King. Sort of a green meatball effect but you get great bark in the winter. Also, consider other native viburnums like Blackhaw or Rusty Blackhaw. Both are great shrubs/small trees with good wildlife value and great fall color.