Dinu, I love this idea.
I remember the saying I grew up with, 'Waste not, want not'.
I like the way you reuse your broken pots.

Pretty smart!

Ahhh. I see you are still re-purposing or simply using what still have value even if it is a little damaged. Thanks for a great reminder.

You can also use the pots when the bottoms are broken to plant invasive plants like mint. Works like a charm.

Smiles,
Lyn

Another great tip. Thank you Lyn

You are welcome, Lynn. I can't buy pots up here, so I really do think about how to use them even when I've broken them.

Smiles,
Lyn

What a beautiful area you live in Lyn.

Great idea Dinu. I also use my broken pots. If grouped together in the garden they look wonderful planted with succulents. If a pot breaks in half from top to bottom I position the pots on their side with the broken side down to look like they are half buried and plant something that will stay short just under the rim and it looks like a pot fell over and is spilling out a lot of blooms. I also have one of these 'half buried' pots that I have positioned a stone frog in where he is just peeking out. Repurposing what you have, instead of buying something new and designed by someone else, is fun, creative, economical and gives a unique charm to your garden. thank you for sharing your creative idea, Dinu.

Great idea, Dinu. I haven't used any broken ones to plant in, but I have done what Bonnie said about burying a pot to look like it is on its side.

Bonnie I would love to see photos of what you did. I have such a wonderful picture in my head thinking about what you said.

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I had added these two images two days before but I wonder why they do not appear in the article. I might have missed to save?? I can't recall. Anyhow here they are.

Many thanks to everyone for the appreciation, thumbs and acorns...... wow and even a badge.... Inspirational.

Thank you Dinu for the new photos. You are very good at repairing the containers. Nice job.

>> after trimming it carefully with pliers

Can you say more about how you even off the broken pots? Do you use pliers to break off parts by grabbing and bending them outwards, or what?

How do you control where the clay breaks?

I would have guessed something like a hacksaw and a file would be needed to get a straight or smooth edge. Like cutting glass, maybe: scratch or saw a groove, and then expect the fracture to follow the groove.

I glue broken terra cotta pots with J.B. Weld. On a plastic pot that ruptured, I laced the crack back together with waxed string.

I fix cracked plastic pots with duct tape or Gorilla Tape.

If they are still fragile, I save the broken ones until I have two of the same size. Then I nest them together with the cracks opposite each other, and that double-pot is usually strong enough to get more use out of them.

Some nurseries and even big stores will throw dirty pots into a bin somewhere and let customers take them home. You may have to ask around to find out where it is, or get on a manager's good side to access their stash.

The only two ways I know to get on a manager's good side are to buy more things, and flatter him/her.

I have a couple of foam pots with cracks that I'd like to repair. I've tried the duct tape ... didn't hold because I my high summer temps melts the glue ...

I've been thinking about buying some of that "Big Stuff", I can't remember who makes it, and finding a way to make a mold and then spraying that into the crack. It's foam, too.

Think I am on the right track ?

Smiles,
Lyn

PS ... sorry if I am hijacking the tread, but it's great to find ways to reuse things others would throw away.

@RickCorey I do not use hacksaw as they get blunt very soon on clay pots. I got this experience when I had to make a hole in the roof tile, also of clay and had to use 4-5 saws for just a little job. So what I do is to keep chipping the edges of little by little with a small hammer [with a rectangle tip] keeping the place where I want to chip on flat stone and rotate the pot as I go along chipping so that the edge jams between the stone and hammer tip. If we try to break larger portions, fracture may run along. Then in the end, I rub the brim on flat stone to smoothen the brim to some extent. It will not be a perfect finish but then this is only a standby pot and a good finish does not matter. We can use a file also. I use pliers as you say, inside out too if the pot is thin. Some pots which may already have a fracture but not visible, will break and we cannot save those. Here I did use a round hammer [heavier] as the pot was quite tough.

For pots that have cracked clean top to bottom, I did use wire to keep the two halves together and it lasted a long time. This was some years ago. When we lift the pot to move it around with earth in it, repaired ones are to be handled extra carefully. Tape may he,p with plastic pots, but they do not work on heavy clay pots.

I liked the suggestion of going to the plant nurseries and going to the "manager's good side"!! Beautifully put!!

I request people to share pictures how you have repaired your pots because visuals always help more.

Dinu said:
So what I do is to keep chipping the edges of little by little with a small hammer [with a rectangle tip] keeping the place where I want to chip on flat stone and rotate the pot as I go along chipping so that the edge jams between the stone and hammer tip. If we try to break larger portions, fracture may run along. Then in the end, I rub the brim on flat stone to smoothen the brim to some extent. It will not be a perfect finish but then this is only a standby pot and a good finish does not matter. We can use a file also. I use pliers as you say, inside out too if the pot is thin.

Great information! Thanks! I would not have thought to "nibble" with a hammer.

It's helpful to know that clay is harder than I thought, and dulls hacksaws rapidly. I would have destroyed several blades before I believed what I was seeing.

Thanks RickCorey for the 'acorniciation'!! Having learnt a lesson with that tile and hacksaw I do not think of it. May be, a very high quality saw may do the job without dulling, but then why do we want to take risk and dull an expensive saw for such a work?