Hello all! I'm in the deep southeast part of the US, first time home owner, and am doing it all myself. I've been here 4 years and have finally gotten the house solid and this was the summer I was going to make this full sun backyard not so ugly. I had just had 6 tons of gravel delivered and was starting to fix the drip line (there's another pile in the front) so I could start solving the drainage issue when my back decided to fail me. I'm finally getting my act together, but I'm not 100% yet and probably won't be this year. But, I still want to keep making progress, even if it's slower. 

The soil here is clay, hard as concrete, and slopes towards the house. When it rains, the side of the house where the rock pile is, gets 2 or 3 inches of standing water and nothing will grow. It needs to be aerated badly and was going to use a manual one and do one section at a time, but I know I'm not up to that anymore. 

I read about liquid aerators but not sure if they will work on this. I'm sure that it's never been done, there were so many huge trees all over the property and I had to have them, all of them, cut down because most were dead or dying and were a safety hazard. There are huge roots everywhere, most of the trees were 200 ft or more. Then I thought about renting a walk behind core aerator for a day, but I don't know if the roots I can't see might kill the machine. Then I thought about a combination of the two. Then I came here.

I'm not in a hurry, but I want to keep making progress. Dogs included in pics as a thanks. I have a small sanctuary for senior, hospice, and special needs animalsand I bought this house for them and want it to be a happy place for them.

Any suggestions are very appreciated by all of us ❤️

Lawn plug aerator that's easy on the back but not a lot of money because... life, man.