How to use broken terracotta pots in the garden
Oh, no! Someone has knocked down a pot of flowers and broken it! Ah, well, it happens… What can you do now? Or,… you see a broken pot on sale and think ‘why in the world are they selling that?’ But wait, these can be opportunities and bargains!
Here is what I do. First, I started putting a ‘carpet’ of broken terracotta pots under the hose bib as a sort of mulch. It’s not so muddy in the Spring,…and a bit decorative.
Broken terracotta clay pots can still be used near the hose.
A place was found to use this set of broken blue pots found at the flea market. I knocked them over and before I ever got to plant them!
Broken blue pots, an archeological dig?
What really hurt was this broken Bauer pot, a treasure found at a University Flea Market in my favorite color! It was broken from being left out in freezing weather most likely. I found a spot for the pieces which pleases me, next to the Germander sage, Salvia chamaedryoides, a color match! Eases the pain a bit…
Broken Bauer pot, ouch, that hurts…
This idea below, seen on a garden tour, comes obviously from the heartbreak of a large broken pot. Planted with sedum and echeveria with small mushrooms placed inside it makes a now charming accent to a flower bed.
Large broken pot, salvaged into a garden feature!
Betty Sneeringer’s broken flower pot garden
Cathy Strate’s ‘broken pot’ garden
So if you see broken or flawed pots at a thrift store or tag sale, you know they can be used in the garden with a little creative imagination!
More:
Jeanie’s Enchanted Fairy Forest What Jeanie did with a large terracotta pot that broke!
See Jeanie ‘broken pot’ tutorial…
7 Comments
When my beloved ladybug pots got broken for one reason or another(probably my husband kicked them over) I saved the pieces, not really knowing what I was going to do with them. Now I know.
They also make great soil covers for potted plants. Just toss them on top to dress up your pots.
I used to work at a garden center and over the years there were several broken pots, so on a steep slope I made a broken pot cemetary, with hens and chicks planted in them
Not completely understanding here. Are they just for looks then? Or do they serve a purpose…such as color coordinating. Do they eventually break down? Why the terra cotta around a garden hose? Just not sure what you’re saying.
GRAMMA , I think the broken pot pieces may be used in the area under the faucet where a garden hose is attached . These areas are often wet and could use extra drainage to decrease muddy spots .That seems to be
an effective use for smaller bits and pieces of pottery.
However , I too , am not quite sure what the intended result was for some of the uses shown .
Ah ha! the fall desert garden is a perfect spot for the broken Mexican pots I’m saving. I can’t bear to throw away any clay pieces and under the garden faucet and around the succulents is a perfect spot.
I have to say, I just tossed a broken pot, out just today. I used it for a year, but when I went to start cleaning up my yard it just looked to junky. I think it’s a good idea to look at your yard, and even have people, comment what they like or don’t like. You have to be careful or your yard could end up looking like a junk, or thrift store. I am striving for the cottage look, with plants, and accessories that give it that cottage feel without it feeling to over crowded.