Advise required on planting Laurels in very wet ground.

Just bought 8 nice bushy rootballed Laurels 5 foot tall. Started digging out last night and we have very heavy clay soil this morning the holes had around 2 inches of water in the bottom.Obviously with the conditions we've had over the last month the ground is as saturated as it will ever be.
My question is should i just wait for a couple of weeks for it to hopefully drain before planting or should I take other measures ie completely digging out the border and filling with lighter topsoil.
Thanks in advance

 

Hallo Nedson,
welcome to the soggy Gardeners Corner. We are all in the same boat - floating around in puddles just like yours. I would wait until the puddles subside and I wouldn't recommend replacing the soil as it may continue to rain for a while yet . Put them somewhere safe and keep an eye on them. Have a wander round the forum -lots to see. Others will be along to say hallo soon,

Jenny namaste

 

Hi
Any shrub /tree or bulb infact?
wont thank you for drowning it,
the signs your seeing now ie water, is a good view of the fact that you need drainage digging in, a good sized hole twice as wide of the root ball and a good slow acting food supply (the laurel will be in its new home for a very long time)

What you see now is a good insight to what will happen with a very wet period so dont plant it now, wait until the weathers much better and then give the laurel a good start and good drainage.

 

Hello

yes wait a while , laurel is a tough plant as Jenny/Monraker said keep safe for now, out of the wind , and I would cover the "rootballs" to keep any frost out of them until you plant, also check they may need a water, as being evergreen they lose a lot of water through the leaves.

Spruce