Clay and drainage again

I recently relocated from coastal South Florida to eastern Kentucky Zone 6b- my property is right on the edge of and includes a very old oak, pine, spruce, and cedar forest. I am used to super fast draining sandy "soil" and so am particularly unable to gauge drainage.

When we moved in all I heard from area folks was "clay, clay, clay- you'll hate it".
We have just this week installed our first plant material and in digging the holes I ran into a question.
The online "drainage guides" suggest digging a hole two feet deep, filling it with water (some say to do this twice), and if it drains in less than four hours then you have good drainage.
All of my holes drain in less than 30 minutes.
Am I good to go here without worrying too much about it?
The soil stays dampish, which is totally foreign to me, but probably a good sign in that it is holding moisture without being totally wet.

As new owners we are still figuring out the dryer areas, the wet areas, etc., and as I would have expected there is a lot of variation in different spots. But if an area drains in 30 minutes can I feel somewhat safe in planting most zone approprite things like azaleas, rhodos, various small shrubs and flowering trees?

I know that having a soil test done is necessary but I haven't gotten around to it what with the moving frenzy. I know I am somewhat acid as would be expected in this area and under so many oak leaves, but my question is more about the drainage issue and whether I need large scale ammendments.

I am composting huge quantities of leaves and will topdress everything a couple of times a year. I have also used various soil conditioners like Nitron-35 when we installed our new lawns last month, an will continue to do so. I garden 99.9% organically and so will feed with alfalfa meal, kelp meal, and so on which will in the long term help my soil.

But in the short term can I stop worrying?
I wouldn't have thought such a change in soil types would throw me so much, but after 35+ years of super fast drainage I am having difficulty determining what is good drainage and what is not.
I just need my hand held through this first season I guess.

Have you had the same drought in your area that we have had in SW Ohio? If so, that might explain your fast drainage. Our rain deficit was over 13" last I heard.

My friend, a homebuilder, said when they dig down 8 or 10 feet now they still find no moisture. We have never experienced anything like this. Our clay now drains way faster than in a normal year.

Karen

Just keep in mind, that while the clay will hold the moisture, the spaces between the particles are very small and do not allow for a lot of oxygen. Because of this, plants will often suffocate and drown in clay soils if you don't loosen them up and add amendments to allow for oxygen.

Compost never hurts. A *lot* of compost never hurts.

That being said, if you can easily dig, I wouldn't worry about *too* much. Take a look around your particular neighborhood and see what's doing well - you're probably fairly safe in planting much the same things. But keep in mind that you will likely have to really watch your watering practices over the next year or so with this drought (it is BAD) so I wouldn't go nuts putting stuff in the ground that you're going to have to hand water next summer - that's assuming the water is available. Your lawns are going to eat up a lot of that time and water.

Karen, looks like she's (? -Sorry, I'm making assumptions, here!) pretty close to you....

yes stop worrying. clay is good. when it gets hot and droughty though the trees will suck all the water right out of that clay, less so when it's cool and wet. If i could only have one soil and couldn't amend or irrigate, it would be clay.

I'm having the drought, yes, but quite enjoy watering and have been doing so since we got here. Moreso lately since we seeded the lawn.

I am of course planning to ammend constantly as we work beds into different areas. But I am also wanting to put the odd splash of fall color (or spring flowers) into my woods and won't be ammending back in there at all. It is easily diggable as oak leaves have been falling and decaying back there for centuries.

I have planted a few things without ammending- mostly natives and hardy old stand-bys. But I do have a few pricey things to put in this weekend and just wondered how bad my soil actually is.

Yes- Karen is close. I'm in the eastern most tip of Greenup County KY about one mile away from where the Ohio River meets Ohio.

I'm guessing, from reading these forums, that there are different types of clay?

I moved here last year & the clay I have is a very hard, very red clay that is virtually impossible to dig more than a couple of inches into. After trying to dig a hole last year, I went to Ace Hdwr to buy a pick-ax for digging, but the very helpful salesman there told me to buy some gypsum, and how to use it.

When I got home, I poured the gypsum into the 3" deep hole I'd been able to dig and filled it with water. Several hours later the water was still sitting in the hole, but by the next morning it had drained. I was able to dig another 2-3", then had to apply the gypsum, fill it, and wait again. I haven't tried digging another hole since then. I've been container gardening, and now have started building lasagne beds (and the very first layer is always gypsum).