The-Artistic-Garden's Blog

A Garden Art Enthusiast Wants To Build
A Mini-Stonehenge In Her Backyard

I received an email from Wendy who asked:

We want to make a small version of Stonehenge in our back yard rockery and cannot lift the large stones we would want.

Hypertufa is a perfect alternative, suggested by a friend. Any hints or tips would be appreciated. I’ve bookmarked your site and will return to it when I can digest all that is there. Thanks so much!

My reply:
Hi Wendy:
Thank you for contacting me and hypertufa would certainly be a great mixture to use for making large boulders and rocks!

I think just about everything you will need to know as far as recipes, proper mixing and curing, etc. can be found in all the hypertufa pages on my website. To easily see all of them listed in one place, you can go to the Site Map on my website, and scroll down until you find “Hypertufa How-Tos Overview”.

I encourage you to read through each page to gain a full understanding of everything, and to think about which recipe you want to use; do you want to add colorants, etc.

In order to accomplish tall, vertical boulders such as those found in Stonehenge, you are going to have to construct forms on which you’ll smear the hypertufa. To get really large rocks and such, you can’t make huge solid blobs of ‘tufa! Plus they’d weigh a lot, which is why you aren’t using real stones in the first place!

One possible way to make the forms could be accomplished by using wood and chicken wire stuffed with plastic (to help the chicken wire hold it’s shape). Since I have no idea how tall you want your version of Stonehenge to be you might have to make forms that are much sturdier than what wood and shicken wire can offer. Now you are moving into the realm of making armatures, which is a whole other ballgame!

No matter what type of frame or armature you end up making, think about the fact that the frames will become one forever with the ‘tufa. So you might be making a LOT of frames for this project, too!

This “Stonehenge” hypertufa rock project will require some artistic creativity and ability on your part, of course. I will make a shameless plug on my behalf: in my Hypertufa eBook, I do discuss form making in more depth than on my website, and I have some photos of how to make a form as I’ve just mentioned. If you are interested, you can find out more about my eBook, how to purchase it, and such here: www.HypertufaBooks.com.

I believe that if you do all your reading “homework” before you dive into this project, you’ll be good to go.

I would also highly suggest you experiment on a smaller object first, to get the hang of getting the recipe ratios correct, etc. Some people are successful from the get-go, and other folks have a couple of disasters before they get it down right. You be the judge of how to proceed. 

Good luck with this large-scale hypertufa rocks project!

~~~

Wendy emailed back and said:

Hi Claudia,

Thanks so much for the notes. My husband is very good at learning everything he can about something before he jumps in and I’ll be the #1 assistant, so we’ll be fine.

I do appreciate your suggestion of trying a small something first. We have a book filled with pictures of stone circles and other rock gatherings in Celtic Britain. I’ve been looking through it and I have to say that Stonehenge is my favorite, but that’s a LOT of work. We may adapt it to the space available.

I can just hear family and friends now, when they view it for the first time.

We’ll first check your website and go from there. I appreciate your link to the eBook.

Thanks again for everything!

Best regards,
Wendy

A New Hypertufa Project Enthusiast
Asks For Birdbath Basin Ideas

Annie emailed me and asked:

I have recently made some minature hypertufa birdbaths and now want to try a larger project. I LOVE the idea of using large leaves with a hypertufa recipe and wondered how to go about shaping the birdbath’ s bowl and other things like that. I think I can figure out the base, but I can’t figure out how to make the bottom of the bowl.

Any creative ideas you can share with me? Annie

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My reply:
Hello Annie:

Sure, I’ve got a couple ideas. To start with, take a look at this photo!

How about using a very large leaf for the entire bowl?

Yes, you’d have to get your hands on a real leaf, such as a gunnera leaf which was used for the casting shown in the photo.

Gunnera leaves can get really huge. As you can imagine, they are highly desired for leaf casting projects.

Unless you know someone who will give/send you a leaf, maybe you live in a warmer cliimate and have the room to grow a gunnera plant. If you do, you’re lucky!

This photo shows an incredible concrete gunnera leaf made by the artist team of Little and Lewis. If you’re not familiar with their mind-bloggling garden art … please go and visit their website.

Or … if you can’t get your hands on a gunnera leaf, how about an elephant ear leaf?

No matter what size of leaf you end up using, if it is for making a birdbath basin, you will use a large mound of damp sand on which to lay your leaf so it will hold the shape you want in order to apply the wet (and heavy) hypertufa or concrete mixture. A bag of play sand (found at a store like Home Depot) is cheap and what many people use for leaf projects.

Lay down a piece of plastic larger than the size of the mound you will make (this helps the sand to retain the moisture); then dampen the sand so it will hold the height and shape mound you’d like; then shape your sand mound; and then lay the leaf down on the mound. Some folks will place another piece of platic on top of the damp sand before laying down their leaf. It’s up to you.

Make sure the leaf is spread out in the shape and height you want before you start applying the ‘tufa or concrete. By “height” I mean the higher you’ve mounded up the sand, the deeper the leaf basin will be to hold the water in your birdbath. Follow me here?

Also, make sure to carefully push and spread your wet mixture out to the edges of your leaf, and try to smooth off the edges, as it will be a lot easier to smooth off the edges when wet, rather than trying to do it after it is cured … though not impossible. And make sure you have enough of your mixture on the edges – don’t make it too thin or the edges could crack and break when it cures or after you move it off the sand mound.

For some helpful tips to help your project be a success, I encourage you to refer to my webpage Leaf Casting Super Tips.

Another idea … you could cast a smooth bowl by simply making a mound of sand; place a large sheet of plastic over it with as few wrinkles as possible in it (this will help the inside of your basin be “smooth”); mark off the circumference so you know you’ll end up with a perfectly “round” basin shape; and then apply your wet mixture onto the plastic surface.

For added embellishments and before your basin is totally cured, you could add partially cured little leaves all around the outside edge; or line the entire outside or inside of the bowl with the leaf decorations. You’d not want to give much curvature to the leaves, as you’d be laying them, in essence, on the basin. You’d attached with more ‘tufa or ‘crete and make sure to use bonding agent appropriately.

Since you’ve not said if you’re working in hypertufa or concrete, the only other idea would be to maybe stamp or carve in leaf decorations into very smooth ‘crete. I think this approach would be better suited for a concrete project.

I hope I’ve helped get your creative juices working! Good luck!

Clay Pot Woman – Do You Have Project Instructions?

I received an email from Renee who asked:

Quite a while ago I saw directions for a terra cotta (clay) woman pot person. Then my house burned down and I lost the directions. Do you have directions for a woman pot person? Thank you.

My reply:
Hi Renee:
Thank you for contacting me and I am so sorry to hear about the loss of your home. I cannot imagine what going through an experience like that would be like. I do hope you and your family are now able to put that situation far behind you.

About instructions for a clay pot person … I do offer a good set of instructions on my website: Terra Cotta / Clay Pot People.

And of course with the addition of your creativity, you certainly should be able to feminize it.

Here’s a really cute idea for a female pot person that shouldn’t be too hard to duplicate:

It looks like a bag of sphagnum moss (you can find that at most indoor gardening areas in stores like Home Depot or Lowe’s, or of course gardening centers), an old straw hat, about 16 medium sized pots, about 12 small sized pots, and 2 medium-large sized pots are all you need for this project. Oh! Well yes … you will need a chair or bench of some sort, too!

And again … using your creativity, you can certainly paint your pots, or add more clothing or accessories to give it your special touch.

I do hope this information helps you. Good luck with your clay pot person project.

Sculpting Hypertufa Into Realistic Rocks
For Use In Bonsai Landscapes

Jim wrote and asked:

I am an avid bonsai gardener. How do I make hypertufa into rocks with sharp edges so they will look like small mountains and fit well into my bonsai gardens? Also what recipe would you suggest for these rocks? Jim

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My reply:
Hi Jim:
Thanks for asking your questions.

First, as far as sharp edges, that is what one would call “artistic expertise”. Meaning, you’ll have to use some kind of tool (maybe a small paring knife; a screwdriver tip; or an appropriate “professional” carving implement) to scrape and carve away the ‘tufa in order to get the crevices, sharp points and such you’ll need to make in order to reproduce the look of real rocks.

Next, about a good recipe – since I know this project is for use in your bonsai garden, I don’s see why a very simple hypertufa recipe that does NOT have perlite or vermiculite in it would work. After all, these are very small rocks, and because of that perlite or vermiculte would not give them a realistic look (at least not in my opinion).

So, you could use either of the recipes found on the following page, but you wouldn’t necessarily need to use the fortifiers: Hypertufa Sculpting Recipe.

And, for something as small as what you’re making, a “final layer” would not be necessary.

Really, any ‘tufa recipe can be carved, in essence. These recipes as you’ll note don’t have the perlite/vermiculite which allows a smoother surface. (The peat moss will give you enough texture.)

OH … I would highly suggest to really sift and/or pulverize the peat moss to a very very fine texture. Again, with such small objects as you’ll be crafting, you don’t want a huge chunk of peat in your recipe!

Hope this helps get you pointed in the right direction. Good luck with all your bonsai garden projects.