Fun Maryland Weather and Soil Question

[LasPalmerasDeMaryland]

The weather differences here between today and yesterday are pretty staggering. 

And even more so around this time last year!

 

Anyone living south of the Mason Dixon can probably relate to these events. But sadly, mass meltings like these always demonstrate how poor my native soil is. It’s a clay type soil which can remain  extremely soggy around 1-3 days after precipitation. You can even see runoff and puddling. The drainage is extremely poor and I would like some tips on improving it. I want to keep my palm’s soil atleast partly the native soil, but I was thinking about adding organic materials to the mix such as crumbled leaves, peat moss, and pearlite to increase drainage. Any experiences and/or tips will help! Thanks!

[mdsonofthesouth]

Sand is your best friend in our clay. That and maybe humic acid as a "chemical" aeration from time to time. Out here in Mount airy we have red clay with rocks. Palms like trachycarpus love our soil here! But then again I do plant them in garden soil about an inch or less outside the root ball up against the clay. But try to work sand into the soil every year and it should augment it well on top of other organic matter being added (e.g. milorganite, sea kelp, broken down mulch etc).