songbird wrote:

....

and the other comment i forgot to add in my
previous reply:

heavy clay soils benefit from added organic
matter, but for establishing an orchard or other
more permanent planting i would not go very far
in digging in materials. instead i would contour
the area properly so that the trees will not be
waterlogged, but then i would put the trees in
place and mulch them well including to be sure
to add enough green stuff to the mulch layer so
that worms will find it and begin to make trails
for the tree roots to follow down in search of
water and nutrients.

years ago someone asked me what i would do to
plant a tree in heavy clay in his front yard. i
took one look and i said, "trench it down about
a foot in a half in a star pattern out from the
hole for the tree. make sure to have at least
one of these trenches drain into a ditch so the
tree won't waterlog. fill the trenches with
some topsoil and some added wood chips and other
organic materials including a long release
fertilizer, this will encourage the tree roots to
spread out and travel along those trenches."

now i think that's overkill. nature/worms can do
the work if you give it plenty of top mulch and the
tree has time to get established. plant a good
diversity of cover crops around the tree and keep
it protected from deer, trim away any cover crops
that block too much of the sun, but a little shade
is ok if the summers get really hot. other than
that, don't water too frequently, preferably don't
water at all (the tree should suit the climate), if
you do have to water, water deeply (but not too much
all at once).


songbird