Plant problems

[Zxsong]

This weekend I've found extra time and I'm trying to improve my mother in laws garden (the city tried to charge her because they didn't like how her front yard looked). I ran into a dead end with this plant. It looks like she had it potted then put it outside and let it grow on its own. I'm trying to take the pot now off of the plant that outgrew it. Any ideas or suggestions would be amazing! Thanks!

 

[parrotlady]

My first response is OMG what a mess! I think what I would do is;decide where you want to place it, dig a hole at least twice the size of the black plastic pot, find a good sharp knife, perhaps a linoleum knife cut the pot off, dig up the roots in the ground. Prune about 1/3 off the top and then replant in the new location use some mulch and water frequently. With a little luck and some hard work it will probably take off. After all, it did survive in that old plastic pot for how long? I hope your help will be appreciated

 

[Zxsong]

The plant itself is actually about 8 feet tall would I still be able to move it? I'm going to try and cut off the pot from the roots. Wish me luck!!

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If you thought it was a mess you should've seen it before I cleaned it!! Haha

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This is why you don't leave your Xmas lights up year-round!

 

[Yvonne G]

OMG! My advice is to take a tin snips or some sort of sharp cutting tool and just cut off the plastic pot where the plant has grown around it and leave the rest in there. That's amazing! It would probably be ok to just knock off the dirt around the base of the 'tree' where it used to be covered by pot. You can even trip off a bit of those old above-the-ground roots, but not the big ones, just the smaller ones. I'd like to see the leaves on that tree to see what it is.

 

[Jacqui]

*blushes* That looks like something I have saw in my own yard. When the kids were in 4H one year they raised trees. They each got I believe three trees and then at the end of the year you took two of them back and kept one. The ones that went back were donated to a park. Well we never did get around to planting that last tree. *blushes* We ended up with something a lot like yours. I did take the snips and worked off what of the pot I could get to. Must have done enough, the tree is still alive and full size. This was like 15 years ago. Thanks for the memory refresher!

 

[Zxsong]

Here's a another picture of the tree! I have no idea what it is but I'm guessing it's been around for more than 5 years.

I was almost embarrassed to post this up haha! We got a few lazy gardeners in the family and trees are easy to forget about. i actually just finished cutting the remaining pot off of a giant aloe plant. I feel like I will have to go back and finish up the job tomorrow it's pretty dark out (hence the picture).

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At the bottom you can see the guard of the garden

 

[Yvonne G]

That is a yucca. Its a beautiful specimen and has grown great for your inattentive gardner mom-in-law!!

 

[Zxsong]

Thank you! She tries her hardest to not try hard

 

[Jacqui]

That's a yucca? When I think yucca I think the ones that stay on the ground, not ones growing into trees. I think sometimes plants grow best, when left to do their own thing.

 

[Zxsong]

Agreed! Perhaps this situation isn't so bad [GRINNING FACE WITH SMILING EYES]