Filling Your Garden With Terracotta

A terracotta pot is not only affordable but can act as an attractive feature in your garden.

I am more of a concrete planter/urn type of gardener at the moment, but who knows - my taste chops and changes so often, next week I am may be all about the rustic garden where clay pots will feature. What I love most about these planters is that they beautify with age and are light! They weight keeps them firmly planted and avoids the old 'blown over in the wind’ pot plant syndrome!

Unglazed pots are perfect vessels when you water your plants. They absorb and lose moisture through their walls so you can’t overwater your plant in them, well not as easily! As a thick material they also slowly release heat into your soil, therefore avoiding sudden temperature drops or spikes for your plant. Everyone is so touchy these days, even your plants!!

Terracotta is a firm favourite style in many European countries and I have just loved seeing window sills filled with colourful flowers in rustic planters in my travels. Keeping your most used herbs close to the back door to is a must for me. Not only does it smell beautiful when you brush the past but it's easy to get to when you need.

My parents garden is filled with gorgeous terracotta. They live on a property just outside of Melbourne that is just a gardeners dream. Rose gardens, bushland, vegetable patches - you name it - it’s there and it’s just delicious to walk through. There is something to be seen in every season and my parents are obsessed with maintaining it, which is a lot of work! There are potted plants throughout the property, large and small. Mum has always loved the colour in her garden and is forever changing those terracotta pots to fit in with the seasons. Red geraniums, pansies, daisies and even tulips are clustered together to create a colourful and layered feel.

How to make your terracotta pots look more 'rustic'

I want to share a little trick with you I picked up a few years ago. I love my terracotta pots to look a little rustic like they have just come from a Tuscan villa! All you do is slather your pot in natural yoghurt and wait for the clay to darken and develop some charming white streaks. It will take a few weeks but definitely speeds up the ageing process. So too does soaking your pots in water until algae grow, simple but true.

Happy Potting!