ViburnumValley said:
I suspect (since a Streetview image showed new construction next door) that whatever topsoil the original site came with is long gone. There is probably a poorer draining B horizon subsoil with fresh sod on top, which means that great plant selections might have to take a reality check back seat to very tolerant plant selections. This doesn't mean one can't grow anything, and it doesn't mean one can't go out on a limb (!) with some wishful gardening thinking.
Those new construction sites tend to have compacted soils.
You say that you have red clay... which in truth is about the best thing you could ask for... that red clay is the best soil in Georgia!
But the fact that your yard has had heavy equipment on it recently, means that the soil is horizontal... dig a hole fill with water... does it ever drain?
Digging through all those horizontal layers until reaching a level below the compaction is a labour worthy of Atlas...
So... only planting a few trees in hope that they all grow... seems fairly unrealistic.
Far more reasonable to plant a lot of trees with the intention of thinning... should it ever become necessary.
Of course... this plan may not be affordable if purchasing expensive cultivars from the local nursery... far more practical would be digging a seedling bed and collecting seeds from the attractive trees in the neighborhood... sowing those and setting them out after a few years.
Or... the Arbor day foundation
https://www.arborday.org/ used to give out free trees... Those were just seedlings and needed to be planted in a starting bed and grown out for a few years before setting out in permanent location...
