Sad But True

Yes folks it can happen at any time and it's pretty devastating.  Sometimes very large pots stop draining.  What does this mean?  It means you have to remove all the soil, find the clog, unclog it, add new soil, replace the hard to find Osmanthus that came from Florida and needs to be identical in size and shape to the other three, reinstall the irrigation and the electrical lines that were running all through the pot.  This pot stopped draining this time last year.  It's in a courtyard with three other, identical planters and trees.  The others are still draining which, now that I've seen what's going on inside this pot, is a miracle.  The tree died last year because it was drowning since the irrigation was running but none of the water for draining out.  I didn't noticed until it was too late.  We removed the dead tree but I was told not to replace it until someone complained.  The the pot has been sitting full of muddy, anaerobically decomposing (this means stinky) soil for a year.  Fast forward to Monday when I get a work order to get the tree replaced by April 14 for the dedication ceremony for the new Caruth building that's being built next to this courtyard.

We attacked this by digging holes in each corner and letting the holes fill up with water.  We would pump the water out into 5 gallon buckets.  We did this about 4 times until we got most of the water out.  Then we just dug all the soil out and wheel barrowed it out of the courtyard.  This courtyard is on floating pavers that can't take much weight so we couldn't bring any heavy equipment in.  It's also surrounded by bollards.  Getting the replacement tree in will be tricky.   I stood on top of the root ball and dug while the guys dug from outside the pot.  We had it completely cleaned out by lunch. The root ball of the tree was completely wrapped in black plastic that should have been removed when the contractors planted it about 3 years ago.  I can't believe the tree lived as long as it did.  There are four drainage holes, one in each corner, but they appear to be sitting on concrete.  The only way the pot can drain is through the hole in the center that the irrigation pipes and electrical conduit run through.  That hole is clogged.  We will have to find a way to clean it out and keep it clean so all future water can drain through it.

Full of nasty, muddy soil and the root ball.

Pete and Rosebel digging out soil around the root ball.

The root ball and the exposed irrigation pipes.

My shoes.

The bottom.