After watching cars hit a pothole for months, this North Texas woman planted a solution

After watching people complain in a Facebook group about a pothole for months, a Decatur woman decided to fix the problem her own way.

“It’s a pothole.” Ashley Wiley said, “So why not put a pot in it?”

The pothole, which is about 3 feet across and deep enough that cars have lost their bumpers driving through it, has been a problem for years, Wiley said.

On Wednesday, she planted a potted shrub in the hole. She took a video of herself getting out of her car, walking into the street carrying a bag of potting soil and a small tree and planting the shrub into the hole.

“I will say, not one person has hit that crater since my tree was planted,” she said.

Not only have people been avoiding the pothole, but some have taken the ‘pot hole’ to the next level, she said. Residents have decorated the tree with Christmas lights and ornaments, creating a Charlie Brown Christmas tree effect in the middle of the road.

The tree also has its own Facebook page called Pothole #DecaturCrater, which 226 people had liked by Thursday.

Wiley’s video of her creative solution had more than 64,000 views.

Wiley said she hopes the owners will find out and fix the problem. The pothole is in the parking lot outside Cici’s Pizza and Tractor Supply Co. in the shopping center off Farm Road 51 in Decatur.

Decatur is about 40 minutes northwest of Fort Worth.