I’m often asked about garden pots and how to care for them. These days, the smart money is on light,

durable and good looking quality GRC pots, like the ones at Pots R Us. All cementitious materials can

leach natural salts onto their surfaces in response to the presence of moisture. If caught quickly, this

can be washed off with water – after several washes, the natural salts in the cement are exhausted, and

the leaching (referred to as “efflourescence”) ceases. If the salts dry and take hold, a soft cloth with a

trade efflourescence remover will usually do the trick. Sealing the pot inside and out also helps defeat

the salt build up.

However, whilst this will help the pots retain their “as new” looks for many years, a lot of people admire

the aged look that comes with efflourescence, and will not treat their pots in any way. So – the choice is

yours. A great thing about the 21st century – we can now have our garden pots look any way we like,

from trendy new to aged gracefully. It’s your choice, but take one leaf from Uncle Greg’s Almanac –

however your garden pots look, get out and enjoy them to the maximum – that’s (after all) what they

are there for.

Till next time, happy gardening.

Uncle Greg