Valthm441;
I too have heavy clay, hardpan to be exact, and I agree with those suggesting bio matter - compost, leafmold or green manures- but your best bet is bulk perlite ( my opinion anyway ). I have the fortune of living less than 20 miles away from a factory that processes it, and can get 4 cubic feet for less than what most people will pay for 1 foot at a hardware store!!! lucky me, huh?
I don't know where you live, but in my experience and area, the ph level is high so you may want to get a soil test ( and probably sulphur) . Been going on 4 and a half years here and I decided to NOT refresh some woodchips that I put down our 1st summer ( on top of some bio- comp ) with the intent to rototill in next spring , the chips are degraded enough to act as more organic matter for the planned flower bed.
We are near the time of year when nearly everyone is going to start leaving bags of leaves for the trash companies to pick up, I suggest you beat the companies to it! Start your own compost pile, plant a winter covercrop and ( at least here where there's a bunch ) keep your eyes peeled for Christmas nativity scenes put out by churches because by January they will thank you for taking their hay! Things like this are cheap and require only a sincere smile a kind word or two and just a few calories. Your work will come next spring, so work out during the winter so your ready
Good luck!
