Container Materials: Clay
This is a very versatile material that can be placed in any garden. There are many types but glazed and unglazed terracotta are more traditionally used. The advantage of clay is that the color can range from pinks, to crimsons, to even light grays.
I personally prefer handmade clay containers and I try to avoid ones that have a narrow neck because they are easily breakable. You can add any type of texture, pattern, or finishes to the material before it’s cured in the kiln. The styles can be custom made and can be tailored to posses a complicated design or decorated with a simple repeating pattern.
These pots can also be glazed in numerous amounts of colors. I tend to choose clay pots that are single colored because multi colored pots tend to distract from the plants natural foliage and flower.
Terracotta, glazed or unglazed, is a great material to create a country style atmosphere. The real reason why I like this type of material a lot is because of the aging process. After a few seasons, algae growth starts to build up over the surface of the pot giving it a beautiful aged look. Algae live and prosper around areas where salts and nutrients are expelled from within the soil through the porous terracotta surface. This usually happens when you water the container planting and force the unneeded materials within the soil outward.
But you have to remember that clay has certain down falls that can be quite harmful to young plants. Terracotta pots are very porous and they allow air to pass freely between the surface soil and the roots of the plants. When a terracotta pot is dry, it will absorb water from the atmosphere and the potting mix of the plantings. This natural tendency of clay is dangerous to young plants because it leaves them without precious moisture. You can easily prevent this by submerging your empty terracotta pot in a bucket of water so that it’s been completely drenched. Also, plantings within terracotta pots should have larger watering amounts to avoid excessive moisture loss.
Glazed pots that are not glazed on the inner surface will suffer considerable frost damage. You can avoid this by lining the inside surface with heavy duty plastic so that you can block the water from entering under the glaze. This waterproofs the container and further impedes salt from trickling into the glazed finish. Make certain that your plastic lining reaches the bottom of the pot and does not cover the drainage hole.
