Question
I just moved into a town home where the previous owners did everything that
they could to make the place look good to sell but didn't do a lot of it right
(go figure). Right outside the back door is a make shift flower bed (4' x 3')
with a Queen Palm that looks recently planted (photo attached). My concern is
that it rained a couple of weeks ago and the soul is still extremely wet. The
soul itself seems to have a good sandy mix but there is no drainage what so
ever. The second part of this issue is that I was going to drill and make a
drainage hole but my HOA won't approve it and it would be pretty obvious if I
did it now. What would you suggest....

Thank you.

Answer
Hi Kevin,

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. Have been traveling extensively. Unfortunately your photo attachment did not make it to my email, so I can only provide advise on the limited information that you have sent me. If you would like to email me directly, send correspondence to [email protected], and place 'allexperts client' (in quotations in all lowercase letters as shown here) in the subject line to that I will not be sure to receive it. [I have a very agressive spam program that deletes email that I have not approved.

Ideally you need to prevent water from getting into the planter or control water access by whatever means necessary. One way is to build a rain shed over the planter, i.e. something as simple as an insert that allows the water to run off of the top of the planter and not into it. You can do it decoratively by building a solid water proof surface with somethign as simmple as a double heavy duty plastic  stapled to a 2x4 frame insert, then cover it with lava rock (very light) so that it looks decorative in nature. When it rains, the majority of the water will simply run off the top over the sides. You can build this around plants by building a simple retangular lip around the plants at the base so that water will not find its way to those holes.

If your soil is getting sour, you will need to address this. One way to dry out soil is to heat it up (you can use something as simple as a high watt light bulb just above the soil. As the soil around the bulb dries, it will wick moisture into the dry area and continue to pull moisture out.

In the case of HOA issues, not much you can do with them but to become a board member and bring change from within (typically ousting the power mongers who like to control people as a recreation in their retirement years. Another way would be to win their confidence and respect through service to the association, at least enough to get them to change their minds on the issue. I would suggest finding out why they won't approve it and see if it has any merit. As a last resort, file a motion in court for a variance to the code that is now in place.

Blessings, to you and yours!