Local business owner turns pothole into flower pot

JACKSON, Tenn. — Regina Hudson, owner of Special Effects Salon in Jackson, said she was tired of trying to take care of a problem that has been bothering her customers since she opened her doors five years ago — a pothole, right in the middle of Federal Drive.

She reached out to the City of Jackson.

“The city told me that this is a privately owned drive and that I am responsible,” Hudson said.

“After I saw the tree, I went on my telephone and pulled it up on the internet,” said Arthur Chism of the Jackson Street Department. “I said, ‘Oh, she’s got a tree there. That’s not ours.'”

She also tried hiring a private company to fill the hole but says it wasn’t long before it caved back in.

“That was probably the problem there,” Chism said. “The ground got soft and just started graveling out, and it just didn’t hold.”

And when that didn’t work, Hudson tried a novel approach.

“All I had to do was dig down. It was dirt,” Hudson said. “So I decided to plant a tree.”

Regina tells us ever since the community has heard about her tree, businesses have reached out to help. But she says she’s decided she likes it better this way.

“He stopped by the salon and came in here and offered to fix it for me for free, and I told him, ‘thank you, I appreciate it, but I like the tree,'” Hudson said.

Chism says if you notice a pothole on a Jackson city road in your area to call the street department.