Prepared to plant a row of incense cedars to screen property from the road. After digging through two feet of clay-like dirt, I noticed water in the bottom of the holes. This was surprising because our land, even close by, is generally very good, well drained fertile soil. We really need the screening and I have already purchased the seedlings (though they weren't expensive), so I don't know whether to berm a couple feet, try and dig out and amend all eight holes or go with a damp, clay-loving screen if there is such a thing! Any ideas?
No, they don't seem to like it wet. In Mount Vernon incense cedar appears to have naturalized on a dry-looking, exposed grassy slope immediately above the freeway, near downtown. Take that as a hint (that and the fact that the natural range starts well south of here, where the summer climate starts to become markedly more assertive). Locally native Thuja plicata, on the other hand, is the climax tree in swamps. Suitable swamps, that is. There are different kinds of wetlands. I would never expect any tree grown in a nursery to respond to being plopped into a puddle. Maybe an aquatic species like bald cypress would take this treatment, maybe not. Amended planting holes dug out of damp clay are apt to become sump-like death traps for most kinds of trees and shrubs. If you want to avoid the high water table, berming is the way to go. Either that or installing a drainage network. This is possible only if there is a suitable and acceptable place to drain the unwanted water into. Another thing about Calocedrus is that it is slow-growing. If you want a quick screen, you won't get it from that one.
