Digging in hard clay--tips?

Yep, water.
We just dug four large fruit tree holes in red clay concrete that bends shovels.
Soak the area really really well. If you can start a small hole or open it up a little with a spading fork, water absorbs even faster.
Amazingly easy after it absorbs the water, but the clay will be heavy with water.

Just don't mound the soil on the tree trunks, make sure you leave a root flare.
We have the same hard clay-or hard black clay, anyway. Have to add compost, lava sand, green sand, black cow (brand of composted manure)
But if you just have a hole filled w/this, the tree will not spread its roots very much so mix the dirt & make a huge hole.

__________________
My book is out! Go 'like' it on FB:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Goo...83553391747680

I used this same technique to dig holes for fence posts in the Dallas black clay. Took a few days to get them all done but I didn't have to wear myself out in the process.

__________________
In one hand bread, the other a stone, the hunter enters the forest.

Easy Planting, but wouldn't they require more water????

__________________
Mortgage Underwriters

Be careful if you dig with a small tractor and 3 pt auger. That clay will suddenly grab that auger like a wood screw and screw itself stuck so fast it's amazing. Do the up and down a lot and keep the hole cleaned out. If you wind it down too far all you can do is remove it from the machine and then dig it out by hand. If you have to do that you will truly HATE life.
I got lazy last year and bought a small backhoe so now the clay just runs away. It's shale that's the enemy nowadays . Once you find that you will wish you were back in the heavy clay again

One of the problems with clay is you dig a hole, fill it with nice good dirt and plant your tree, and then it rains a few inches. Then your clay "pot" becomes a water logged death hole for your tree as the roots drown. So you want to make sure you have drainage away from your tree. Planting on a hillside with drainage below will work. What I have done is remove only some of the top soil and then create a big mound of dirt that is a mix of pulverized clay and good soil. Plant in this mound and then go over the top with clay to keep it all in tact. This all sounds like a lot of work because it is. I have planted larger apple trees this way. (I have obtained pulverized clay by using clay that was left out in the winter turned over - it will crumble nicely)

Another thing I have done is plant small bare root seedlings in a slit opened by a tree planter and then close it up again. Planted about 1500 bare root spruce and white pine seedlings this way - probably 300-600 or so survived, but heck that is way more trees than I had!

Yet another way, that results in very few losses, is to shovel out small existing seedlings (spruce) from my woods with as many roots as possible and plop them down into a hole that is just a little smaller. I then stamp them down in place with my boot. This has resulted in 90-100% survival. This is a lot of work, but because I am not changing the soil at all and leaving roots intact, the trees do well. But you need the trees to "borrow" in order to do this.

__________________

How to Patch Large & Small Holes, Build & Finish Drywall Arches, Tape & Finish Corners and Joints, How to Texture and Repair Texture
Drywallinfo.com

In addition to what MichaelZ said, sounds like the best case scenario will end you up with girdling roots unless you break up that clay on the side of your planting hole.

Clay is no fun. I would recommend that you put at least 6 inches of gravel in the bottom of the holes before planting the trees as clay tends to hold a tremendous amount of water. I have gumbo here where I live and had to bring in truck loads of compost and other soil amendments to make my garden grow well.

As for digging the holes. I agree with others. Dig a little out with whatever you have that won't break, twist, or bend until you get a couple inches down and soak with water and repeat the process until you have a hole the correct size.

Here is an older thread about clay soil.

Adding lime and such to clay soil. Do I have too?

Had the holes dug with a mini-escavator today. The trees are sitting in 5 gallon buckets filled with potting soil. What do y'all recommend I do when I go to plant them to ensure their success?

I'd mix something not clay nor sand like compost or such with the native soil as backfill so your trees get used to the clay they will have to eventually bust--maybe a 1/3rd compost. Beyond that, plant them so the root ball is slightly above ground, mulch, and keep watered for a year.

I will admit that water helps to make it easier to dig in clay. I do want to add one problem with that solution though. I have had water in my property sit in a hole (from rain with no other rain) for several days at a time without drying.

I will say that the few times we have planted trees we have had much better luck with making the initial hole about 3 times (or more) larger than we were supposed to. After adding the trees we backfilled with a mix of compost, topsoil, and the clay that came from the initial hole. Our theory was that once the roots of the tree got large enough to get past the initial hole we dug it would probably be strong enough to grow out into the clay.

There is a simple technique for making holes in clay if you have the water available. Results are highly variable so all you can do is try to see if it works for you.

Find a section of 1" PVC pipe about four or five feet long. Notch the end so that there are four crude "teeth."
Stick a water hose with a brass spray nozzle end in the pipe.
Turn the water on and work the pipe and hose much the way that you would a spud bar.
The muddy water will come up out of the top of the pipe as it and the hose work into the clay (or sand).
If you have stones, a spud bar is a better choice, but many times the water blast is much easier.

If my pressure washer will take the finish off of brick, I imagine it could do a number on clay. Fortunately I have never needed to dig a hole that bad. Somebody or something would have to be dead and stinking before I would try that. My hard as bricks clay becomes soft and easily dug in fall, winter, and early spring.

I try to do all my tree planting in the fall or early winter.

this^^^^

Holes that the mini-escavator dug. Going to widen the holes a good bit with the shovel. Anything else I should do?

I have had similar experience with a spudbar or similar bar (I just call it the bar) with a pointed end instead of a flat end. It is still hard work.

This might sound funny, but for me, working with a shovel is very therapeutic. Most of my digging experience is in hard clay, hardpan, or dry rocky soil. (I recently purchased a few acres of sandy soil and I don't know what to do with myself.) I have found that the hard work is more doable when you accept the fact that the hole will take a little more time and effort. Don't try to dig the whole hole at once. Establish a sustainable rhythm that chips away at the total project. Once you accept the work and get started you will find that the hole will seem to appear and you will be surprised at how much you were able to do.

You plant a tree in something that hard, don't expect to live, and if it does, it'll take forever to grow.. If I had to get power tools or a pickaxe to get the hole dug, think I'd find a better spot....

__________________
Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Seneca
Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival. W. Edwards Deming

I feel your pain! I am still getting my PTO-driven post-hole digger hoisted to a shop ceiling so I can hook it to the tractor without a helper. Meanwhile, I gotta dig two post-holes. It's too small a hole for our backhoe's small bucket, which is what I used last time to plant some American Persimmon trees.

I would try pick and add water, then deepen the hole after it soaks in. Keep repeating until you have your hole right. That's my plan for these two posts. Good luck!