planting a tree in poor drainage area - help please

[schmied]

I'm planting a shurman red oak tree in my front yard. Ground is red clay and drains very poorly. I tried a perk(sp) test and it took well over 24 hours to drain. Any links or instructions on how to use pvc piping or other techniques to help?

[The Ent]

From Howard's Site:

Tree Drainage
July 19, 2003
By Howard Garrett

Trees can die from too much water. Just as they can from not enough, and sometimes trees need to be planted in areas that don?t drain very well. And that creates problems. Let?s talk about what the solutions are needed to give problem spots better drainage.

There are three ways to handle a poorly drained area where a tree needs to be planted. First choice, a drainage line from the bottom of the hole out to a lower point. A four inch PVC pipe can be installed in the bottom of a trench completely surrounded by gravel. Do not put filter fabric around the drainpipe. The filter fabric will clog up, costs money and it doesn?t work long term. The drain line will work without the pipe also ? just fill the trench with gravel. Drainage will be slower but still works. The second method would be to drill holes straight down from the bottom of the tree hole into a different soil type and fill with gravel. Don?t bother to put a PVC pipe in these vertical holes. The third method would be to move the tree to a different location that has better drainage or plant bald cypress, birches and willows.