As seniors, New Year’s Eve is typically a quiet affair at our home, often wrapping up well before midnight. The year 2026 was particularly subdued, with heavy rain predicted to continue through New Year’s Day after several weeks of rainfall. By the morning of January 2, our rain gauge indicated 4.75 inches of rain had fallen.
The real surprise, however, came on the morning of January 1st when we discovered that the 15-foot-tall aloe tree in front of the house had toppled over towards the stree
The Back Story
I obtained this aloe in the early 1990s from Carl Dykema, the owner of Exotic Gardens, when they were situated in a breezeway between two buildings in Uptown. In an unusual twist, the location is now home to Uptown Tavern, partially owned by my partner Scott Borden, while Carl’s business has relocated to El Cajon.
I don’t remember much about the one-gallon aloe, except that Carl may have mentioned it was a hybrid tree aloe. I’m not sure if he didn’t specify or if I just don’t recall the parentage. Over the years, aloe growers have speculated a lot about the parentage, but since we can never be certain, I won’t share any of those theories. Regardless, it certainly behaved like a hybrid, growing tall very quickly and blooming at a relatively young age. Within a few years, it reached the size of a small palm tree, producing three-and-a-half-foot tall yellow/orange bloom spikes each December. It was truly a standout.
In 2023, I revamped the front garden where it was planted, removing most of the plants there, including the three water-starved palms that had begun to touch the wall. You can read the full story of the front garden makeover at Front Garden Refresh. I kept the tree aloe as one of the focal points of the front garden.
Attempts to Save the Plant
I shared photos of the toppled plant on Facebook seeking suggestions for how to set the aloe upright. This also sparked a lot of speculation about the cause of its fall. My assessment is that, weighing over 250 pounds and standing 15 feet tall while leaning toward the street, the combination of several days of rain and saturated soil proved too much, and gravity prevailed. Upon digging out the stump, we confirmed that the roots were in excellent condition with no signs of rot.
After reviewing the various suggestions and advice, we concluded that setting the plant back upright was nearly impossible and therefore highly improbable. Even if successful, the aloe would need supports to prevent it from toppling again. Justin, my gardening assistant, had some recent experience with digging up and relocating large aloess, but this one was about twice the size of those aloes, and they were already at the limit of what one person with my help could manage to move.
Ultimately, we decided to remove the flowers, all the dead leaves and about half of the live ones to reduce the weight to a manageable level. We also chose to saw the trunk off at a height that would fit into Justin’s truck. He would then transport the plant from the front of the house to the hotel parking lot at the bottom of our hill. Together, we would carry it through the gate at the bottom and temporarily store the aloe in the shade there while the cut end dried out.
With the aloe removed, the front bed became more accessible, prompting me to rearrange the rocks and boulder in the dry creek bed. This creek also serves as a path for garden maintenance, but the rock arrangement was challenging to walk on and posed a tripping hazard. Over the years, I had received several large commemorative etched rocks from various garden tours and events we hosted. I decided to place these at the end of the dry creek bed near the base of the wall. Additionally, we removed and relocated several large bromeliads in the area that required dividing.
The removal of the aloe left a noticeable gap in the front garden, eliminating a significant focal point. I pondered for days on how to replace it. I didn’t want to wait years for something to grow in. This spot is one of the sunniest and hottest on our property, so a low-water plant that could withstand the heat was ideal. Since I already have an abundance of plants, I hoped to relocate an existing one from the garden. I considered a silver torch cactus, Cleistocactus strausii, which was growing out of sight in the side yard. I’ve had the cactus for decades; it was initially in a pot near the garage door but was moved due to being in the way of the trashcans. In 2017, after removing a large loquat and adding an 8-foot privacy fence at a neighbor’s request, we planted the cactus in the now sunny, exposed area, where it thrived, growing over 5 feet tall.
The next challenge was how to dig it up and relocate it. I was concerned about the soil being too wet and heavy from recent rain, making it difficult to dig out the roots intact. However, I wanted to move it soon since the new location is sunnier, and delaying until later in the year could risk sunburn. Additionally, moving something with many spines and plump, rain-swollen trunks was tricky.
I decided to wrap the cactus in chicken wire and insert plastic pots of various sizes between the arms to keep them stable. We then wrapped the base in furniture foam with bungee ties. We cleared the rocks from the base, cut the drip irrigation line in the way, and dug out as much of the root ball as possible. Justin managed to carry the entire plant by himself and placed it in the hole in the front bed, with me overseeing the placement. Some arms leaned slightly but began standing upright in a few days, although they still shift slightly. We only broke the growing tip off one of the tallest arms, and hopefully, a new one will develop at the broken end.
Once in place, the base of the cactus appeared stark emerging from the creek bed. At the bottom of the garden was a beautiful large Agave potatorum, mostly hidden by other plants. I had been looking for a relocation spot, and this seemed perfect.
To complete the arrangement, we planted large variegated bromeliads against the wall and added a grey Hechtia to the side of the creek bed.
Replanting the Tree Aloe
After experiencing several weeks of warm and dry weather in January with no rain forecasted, we decided it was time to plant the large tree aloe that had been cut off.
Originally, we intended to plant it near the fence in full sun at the base of the hill. However, once we began digging, we quickly realized, as we had feared, that the area was filled with Eucalyptus roots from the trees just outside the fence. Upon reassessing, we decided it could serve as an even better focal point if placed in the middle of an existing bed where I had planted a Psuedobombax ellipticum. While it was doing well, it was leafless most of the year and didn’t stand out much. I removed it and gave it to my good friend Jodi for her garden. We dug a large, deep hole and managed to balance the aloe in place. We backfilled the hole with decomposed granite and compacted it. We were able to get it to stand without any support and hope it will be rooted by next December, showcasing a beautiful display of flowers.
