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It is possible to glue back the pieces and pack small cracks with Araldite, but if it is to work with any degree of success it does depend on the joints being clean. The pots will never be strong again. My advice is to keep them going for just a few more years by ringing the body of the pots with strong wire and twisting it tight, and gluing back the pieces of rim. Paint them if you must, but the cracks will soon show again. Better to let them speak their age honestly, and avoid the hair dye.

Q: I would like to make a mosaic of broken tiles on an ugly brick wall. What should I use to stick them? - K. Penny, Faversham

A: First, you must clean down the wall with a wire brush to remove all loose material. To fix the tiles, use a 3:1 mix of sand and cement, or an external-grout mix with PVA glue added. Wet the face of the wall well before you start and fix the tiles just a foot at a time, starting from the bottom up. Clean off any mortar from the surface of the tiles and cover your work with polythene while it sets, to keep off rain or frost. Once set, you can grout the joints.

If you want to see some amusing mosaic steps (much of it done in broken china), then visit Marle Place in Brenchley, Kent, preferably in late May when its allium meadow is a bonus. To see some truly classic tile work, you should join me on The Times Garden Tour to Portugal, September 11-15. For more details, visit www.timesonline.co.uk/gardens, or contact Boxwood Tours on 01341 241717 or by e-mail on mail@boxwoodtours.co.uk.

Q: We have a vigorous, 15-year-old climbing hydrangea in a clay tub on our patio. The tub is now breaking up and will not last much longer. We don’t want to cut the plant back and we cannot lift it. How can we replace the pot? - Mrs D. Main, Sanderstead, Surrey

A: Just break away the old pot and build a heavy, rectangular wooden container around the roots. After all those years the rootball will be tight as a drum, and will almost certainly have put long anchor roots through into the patio, too, to find moisture. It would be mad to disturb it (presumably it is clinging to the wall?), so allow a hand’s space between boards and root, and fill it with fresh, rich compost. It need have no base, only sides.

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