Privet Hedge, to till or not to till?

[chazman113]

I live in Delaware, Zone 7b. I have 3 year old privet hedge on either side of my house. My soil throughout the lawn is unfortunately almost exclusively clay and it's terribly drained. On one side of the house, the hedge is noticeably larger and healthier (more leaves, fuller). On the other side, there is more runoff from the adjacent yard, which is higher, and it frequently pools in the trough formed from the edging I made around the base of the hedge. It's been very wet over the last few seasons and this water doesn't drain for a few days at some points. I figure there are two ways I can go with this and wanted a second option:

#1 Don't till the area. Get some compost/soil from a local supplier and fill the existing edging. Extend out about two feet on either side, make a new edge that is farther away from the established roots. Top dress with some compost and then mulch. My goal would be to keep the standing water away from the privets established root system. Right now the edging is right about on the drip line of the plants.

#2 Till about two feet out on either side mixing in compost. The idea here would be to make a soil more conducive to root growth. I think this is the "traditional" fix, but I would be worried I would just create a bigger drainage "trough" and possibly damage existing roots. It's also more work

Thoughts?

 

[DirtMechanic]

If you want privet to grow better, get more sunlight upon it. It grows leggy and thin in the shade. You could nip the tips and increase the bushiness to a degree due to the reaction most plants have to being tipped. It does not care one bit about whether you dig the clay or not in my experience.