Repairing frost damaged pots

If you want to keep your pots, even frost resistant ones cannot withstand very low temperatures. What happens is that the pot absorbs moisture and then this moisture freezes in cold spells and expands, breaking down the surface. I have a couple of terracotta square pots that are twenty plus years old. They have been repaired many times with no-nails glue, it does show but they still hold soil and in summer plants cover the joins. At the moment they a full of tulips.

You're welcome Azalea99. I use plaster filler for all sorts of repairs- sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't . I used it once on a boring mirror frame and made greek key impressions in it. But of course that was for inside.

I think I would try putting a glue base beneath it to make it more likely to stick - brush all the powdery bits off the pots first (sorry if I'm teaching a grannie to suck eggs )

Thanks AreWeThereYet! I’ve got some plaster repair stuff, & some spray-on lacquer. I think I’ll wait for warmer weather, scrape off as much ornamental glaze as possible & declare it an official project! Nothing could look worse than it does right now. And Pascal30 - I can turn 2 of the 3 damaged pots so I don’t have to look at the mess, but the one in the picture is damaged all round, but thanks for the suggestion. Grrrrrr!

I would try filling it too, then paint it up a bit. I would use a lightweight filler that you use for filling plaster, and mix it with a bit of acrylic paint so it's not bright white. I doubt it would stand up to harsh weather again though. It would probably need a sealer over the top to protect it too.

You could do an artistic falling over/trailing arrangement. On the tv it can look very nice…..in my garden I don’t seem to have that knack!

Couldn't you just put it somewhere else in your garden with the broken part facing away from sight..

loopyloo

I'd have a go at filling and painting it.
Or doing a mosaic.
Or taking it to the repair shop..,

Or taking it to the repair shop ..

Some areas have Repair Shops or Cafés where you can take favourite items to be restored.
I'm not sure about the pot, though.

Bluebelle - you’re absolutely right!

I once covered one with mosaic, but stupidly left it out the next winter and it all cracked and fell off!

If I have a pot I like I use a plastic pot for the plant and put it inside the pot I know in many ways it defeats the whole purpose but if it’s an expensive pot it preserves it and looks pretty I ve not had any problem with ceramics doing it that way
Unfortunately however you paint or decorate it it will never look as you wanted it to, an expensive lesson but start again before you waste a whole lot more money on trying to
recoup it

I'd have a go at filling and painting it.
Or doing a mosaic.
Or taking it to the repair shop..,

Most pot and ornament sellers tell you to bring them in over winter, then they have absolved themselves of blame even on pots that are supposed to be frost resistant. You could try epoxy resin mix but then you’d need to paint over. Such a shame and so annoying.

I wonder if covering the pots with bubble wrap would help.

Thanks for your replies. I’ve been toying with the idea of pasting the areas where the glaze has come off with some of the stuff they use between paving slabs. Then I could paint it with masonry paint, perhaps, and spray it with some kind of glaze. However from your overall response I’d probably be wasting time and money. I could kick myself for leaving them out, but they’re quite heavy with soil in them, and my greenhouse isn’t heated in any case. S’pose I should be grateful it was pots and not plants which got damaged!

If you want the pot to have the original smooth finish I would use a suitable filler ( I love filling) and then paint it.
Or, repaint the pot, leaving the missing parts which would give a 3D effect.

It is a problem though. I love terracotta but it so expensive and gets damaged by the winter weather.
Don't like to buy new plastic so am hanging on to the ones we have .
Have some recycled plastic but that's still not terracotta.
Do find pots easier to manage because of the height but more watering.
Also need to group the containers more artistically.
It's a whole subject and have several books on gardening in containers.

I have one terracotta pot where the rim has lifted off. Am going to try and cement it back on.
Wish me luck.

I too would try the idea by Skydancer.

I’ve learned the hard way with pots too, sadly I don’t think there’s anything you can do to salvage them. Over the years I’ve moved to salt glazed pots for shrubs and bulbs, they seem to last much better, although they are nowhere near as pretty.

The worst pot I bought was a shiny ceramic one.
The soil seems to get compacted and it doesn't drain well.

I'm not sure what you could do except smooth any sharp parts and perhaps paint it.

As long as the actual pot itself does not have a crack in it you could perhaps do a mosaic pattern where the design has chipped off. I agree it's very annoying especially as these pots are not cheap.

As someone who makes pottery I am sorry to say that there is no such thing as totally frostproof so if the pots have been outdoors over several winters filled with earth, chances are they have been attacked by the weather.
I bring pots into shelter in winter.

I don’t think I d even try with that one it doesn’t look as if many of the pieces are there or have you put them away somewhere safe
Is a pretty big area to ‘mend’, well just about half the pot
It’s a shame but sometimes you just have to accept
Anyway someone more clever than me may be able to help you