Gardeners tend to be a resourceful lot. When a tool, container or other item in the garden becomes damaged beyond repair, it simply takes on a new life or purpose. A cracked clay pot, for example, can continue to serve many useful years if you just use a little creativity. Here are some ideas I have seen local gardeners come up with.

A cracked or chipped pot’s new function will depend somewhat upon where the crack is, how extensive the damage is and how you want to use it. If you want to mend the crack or reattach a chip, try using a waterproof silicone caulking, epoxy or Elmer’s Carpenter’s glue. After cleaning and drying the pot, apply the adhesive and tightly tie a heavy string or wire around it until the glue is dry. A sealer can be used over the repaired area.

If repair does not work, then it’s time to get creative. Make a pyramid or multi-tiered planter starting with a larger, solid pot for the base, filling it half way with soil and then placing the cracked pot in the center to form a second level. How many pots you use will depend on the size and shape of the pots. Just be sure that each upper level pot is sunk about halfway down in the soil of the pot below it. This makes a beautiful planter for cascading plants.

Large cracked or chipped pots can be used in the yard lying on their side (damaged side down) to create a “tipped” planter with plants “spilling” out of it. Place the pot at an angle so that it can hold enough soil and water without it all washing out.

Turn a chipped pot upside down in a garden bed, and it becomes a home for toads, frogs and other small creatures. You may also get wasps or black widows moving in. Just remember that they, too, play an important role in the environment, and simply leave them alone.

You can turn a cracked pot into a colorful container by gluing flat pieces of colorful glass, “melted” marbles, broken pieces of attractive pottery or other items all around the sides. Use a liner pot and saucer inside the decorated pot if you still want to grow a plant in it. A small decorated pot can also take on other uses such as a pencil holder. Larger decorated cracked pots can be used as magazine or newspaper holders.

Your last resort is to safely smash the pot to smithereens and use it as ballast or drainage enhancer in the bottom of a potted plant container. Instead of just throwing the pot against a hard surface (which could result in sharp pieces flying back in your face), put the pot in a sack or cover it with several layers of newspaper and tap it all around with a hammer until you have it down to the size pieces you want.

For more ideas or to set your creative juices flowing, go to http://www.crackedpots.org/. This site encourages people to “think before they throw” and encourages people to do creative things with recycled garden items.

T&D Garden Columnist Minnie Miller can be reached by writing to her at 138 Nature’s Trail, Bamberg, SC 29003.

This entry was posted on Saturday, September 5th, 2009 at 3:19 pm and was written by Minnie Miller. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.