The-Artistic-Garden's Blog

Please Explain Deflatable Balls for Making
Hypertufa or Concrete Hollow Garden Spheres

I received an email from Debbie asking me:

In the instructions given for the Hypertufa Hollow Garden Sphere, one of the materials needed was a deflatable ball.

Can you advise me where I would get such a ball? What size does it come in and what type material is it made of? (Guess you can see I don’t have any young kids at home nor any grandchildren. ) Continue reading

When Should I Deflate The Ball When Making
A Hypertufa Or Concrete Hollow Garden Sphere?

I received an email from Charlotte who asked:

Did I miss something in understanding the concrete and hypertufa garden spheres instructions? Doesn’t the ball have to be deflated? If so – at what point? I’m so new at this that I would probably make a really stupid mistake about deflating the balloon too soon. Thanks for your help.

My reply:
Hi Charlotte:
Thanks for writing me. No, you didn’t miss anything … I guess I assumed that folks would know that you would have to deflate the ball after your ‘tufa or concrete garden sphere is cured hard enough – better to err on the side of a few extra days rather than deflating it while you still can detect moisture–meaning the mixture hasn’t cured enough yet.

Use your best judgment to gauge the right time to deflate it. Just make sure your sphere will be able to hold together.

Please read more about concrete garden sphere tips and garden sphere how-tos which will hold true for either hypertufa or concrete.

Sorry if this threw you for a loop. And please … no question is stupid  And I am glad you asked because now you are more knowledgeable about the issue of using the deflatable ball for your hollow garden sphere projects.

Good luck!

Can I float a mortar sphere in water?
How long will it last?

I received an email from Michelle asking:

I have made a hollow large (exercise ball size) sphere using a thin-set polymer-fortified mortar. Once the sphere is sealed, can it be placed in a pond – how long would it last? I’d love to see it float

My reply:

Hi Michelle:
About a floating sphere: I have no personal experience in doing this. However, if I were doing this, I would do a number of coats of sealant to be super-sure that it was sealed well, which I will assume would help with the longevity of the sphere lasting longer.

Please read my information about curing hypertufa and concrete, as you do not want to put uncured hypertufa/mortar/concrete into a pond. It could harm your fish and/or plants.