Give Old Planters A Concrete Overcoat

Turn old pots and planters from blah to beautiful with a concrete overcoat.

DO IT YOURSELF | Do you have a hodge-podge of unattractive garden pots and vases collecting dust in the recesses of your storage area, containers you’ve been thinking about shipping off to the Sally Ann? Well, if you like the look of concrete, a binding agent the late, great Canadian architect Arthur Erickson called “precious …. the marble of the 20th century,” you could mix up a batch of the material and paint it on your old planters the way I did on mine. It made me want to keep them.

My Cement Project

My cement project was really easy. I bought a bag of Portland cement and made a slurry, which is a semi-liquid mixture of water and cement. The slurry should have the consistency of oatmeal, just thin enough to be easily applied with a brush. I suggest that you add the water slowly to the Portland compound until it reaches the consistency you like.

A cement slurry works best when it is applied to coarse surfaces like terracotta, but you can also apply it to glazed pots if you rough up the surface with sandpaper before you paint. Wetting a surface before you apply a slurry will also help it to adhere. And work quickly, this stuff hardens pretty fast. —Brendan Power

We found 40-kilo bags of Portland cement (just $10) at Pacific West Systems Supply, 100—2550 Boundry Road, Burnaby, 604-293-1741, www.pacwestsystems.com

Photo: Clinton Hussey