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Not Too Late To Protect Pots

By Phran Novelli

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Better late than never! If you didn't move or cover outdoor pots yet, it's still a good idea. I walked by a concrete urn on a mild winter day last week that was full of water and floating ice – yikes!

With some planters, the decision to bring them in or leave them outside is simple. Plastic pots are quite brittle in the cold but light enough to move indoors. Terracotta pots are so likely to crack that most people either empty and move them or at least turn them over in a sheltered spot. Then there's cast iron, which wears like iron, so they stay outside.

But while concrete is a strong outdoor material, it's also porous which makes it vulnerable. And if water fills the planting bowl and freezes, it can seriously crack and destroy a precious pot either quickly or over time.

So, since concrete pots are usually too heavy to move, it's smart to protect them by scooping out the soil on a day that's above freezing and wrapping them. (If your planter is full of snow and frozen soil, I'd wait for a mild day to empty the pot rather than risk trying to chip soil out and breaking the pot.) Then, cover the planter well with a tarp and tie it like a package to wait out the rest of winter - a gift you can unwrap in the spring.

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