how to solve drainage problems?

so i went out, and started digging my holes at the beginning of the month. the goal being to have all spots prepped and ready come april. i went out today to start another round of digging and check on the ones i'd already dug. see, i figured out that another reason to start early is so u can go back to the hole(s), before u back fill, and see how the soil drains. one of the holes i revisited today didn't have any standing water in it (it rained here yesterday) the other one had approx 2 ft. of water standing in it!( my hole is 3ft deep) so my question is how am i gonna improve the drainage at this site?
i know i could pack some rocks in and fill the bottom w em to help, but it seems like that may not entirely fix the prob. cause the water will still be standing underneath the rock right? i took my pickaxe and drove it into the bottom hoping it would be able to drain itself then.....but no....so i used my shovel and scooped it all out, then back filled approx a foot of it mixing the topsoil into the bottom clay like 'soup', but this seemed like it wasn't helping much. still a big soupy mess in the bottom.
bottom line is i need advice on how to get this site to drain better.
its a perfectly located spot: hard to get to, lots of sun, just not very good drainage. +rep for anyone who can help me out here.

u could use rasied beds ... im sure theres other stuff that u could add to the soil ...

just dig deeper and backfill with soil. or........ if you dig a trench alongside your holes and install a french drain/weeping drain and channel the runoff water to another hole that is just gravel with a thin layer of topsoil to conceal the drain.

here is a quick (poor quality sketch) hope this helps..........

idlehands80 said:

just dig deeper and backfill with soil. or........ if you dig a trench alongside your holes and install a french drain/weeping drain and channel the runoff water to another hole that is just gravel with a thin layer of topsoil to conceal the drain.

here is a quick (poor quality sketch) hope this helps..........

Click to expand...

right now is really early to say for sure your going have problems with water come april 1.with all the rain-cooler temps and everything(plants,grass,shrubs,ect)being dorment(not growing)the ground is going to be wet.im a landscaper and seen this happen.two years ago did a job.dug 10 holes everyone filled with water in the fall.but anyway planted shrubs.over winter one died others made it.went back replace shrub and no water in the hole and this was may the following spring.i would say go ahead dig your holes.and if it comes down to it you can do raised beds

idlehands80 said:

just dig deeper and backfill with soil. or........ if you dig a trench alongside your holes and install a french drain/weeping drain and channel the runoff water to another hole that is just gravel with a thin layer of topsoil to conceal the drain.

here is a quick (poor quality sketch) hope this helps..........

Click to expand...

Do that im in that red clay area of nc aswell just use your pickaxe/hoe and connect all the channels and of you cant pay for gravel/ not feasable to haul it out there use 50/50 leaves and topsoil.

crashcourse said:

right now is really early to say for sure your going have problems with water come april 1.with all the rain-cooler temps and everything(plants,grass,shrubs,ect)being dorment(not growing)the ground is going to be wet.im a landscaper and seen this happen.two years ago did a job.dug 10 holes everyone filled with water in the fall.but anyway planted shrubs.over winter one died others made it.went back replace shrub and no water in the hole and this was may the following spring.i would say go ahead dig your holes.and if it comes down to it you can do raised beds

Click to expand...

so ur thinking on this is that once spring/summer hits w/ higher temps and the plant life growing and sucking up the excess water, so it wouldn't be as bad then?

doowmd said:

so ur thinking on this is that once spring/summer hits w/ higher temps and the plant life growing and sucking up the excess water, so it wouldn't be as bad then?

Click to expand...

yes spring is going to make a big diff.
i dig 100s of holes every year cause its my job to plant stuff being a landscaper.right now there is nowhere for the water to go untill it time to be used by mother nature and she doesnt need it till spring.

give me some tips on digging. do you think just sinking my pickax as deep as it goes in, doing this in approx a 3ft diameter ya know, and then using my shovel to turn the ground like that would be sufficient enuff? i've dug 3 3wx3d holes already and its a bitch if i could just basically turn the soil about a foot deep ya know? i use the aforementioned pickax and shovel. any suggestions on making it easier on myself?

doowmd said:

give me some tips on digging. do you think just sinking my pickax as deep as it goes in, doing this in approx a 3ft diameter ya know, and then using my shovel to turn the ground like that would be sufficient enuff? i've dug 3 3wx3d holes already and its a bitch if i could just basically turn the soil about a foot deep ya know? i use the aforementioned pickax and shovel. any suggestions on making it easier on myself?

Click to expand...

3by3 holes i think are little big 2by2 holes are fine.if your going to fill them with good soil thats like 10gal of soil and that is plenty.digging is a bitch no matter what methed you use.i just use a shovel that i sharpened the edges with a small grinder.it makes it a little a little better.also if your not going to bring soil in use a piece of screen to loosen the soil.not a window screen but something bigger and add nutes.