Aged Hypertufa

| Flower Roberts

When I was an artist, I made garden art out of various recipes with portland cement as the main ingredient. Planters were made with mixtures of peat, ground organic matter, portland cement, mortar mix, stone and fibers.

Hypertufa trough covered in moss.

The troughs were hand-shaped and seasoned in plastic wrap to dry slowly. The surfaces had to be brushed to a roughly smooth, natural-looking texture that mimicked stone.

I discovered that there is a fine line between a recipe that will grow moss and a recipe that falls apart. The trick is to use fibers that are made to strengthen concrete. The fibers left sticking out can be burned off using a blow torch. I also used these fibers in bird baths and benches to reinforce them, along with hardware cloth and rebar.

This trough is about thirty years old and looks exactly like it was intended. Still sturdy enough to be moved and used as a planter.

I will share other pieces of Maiden Stone Garden Art in future posts and describe how each was made. I used to teach workshops on how to make pieces. 

FLOWER

5 thoughts on “Aged Hypertufa”

    1. I started the business when my children were small. I returned to teaching science when they got older.
      Making garden art was hard work and the pieces were heavy. Loading these up to take to shows required a lot of lifting. There were many injuries. My hands were always cracked. I had to work outside during all kinds of weather. It was too hard and too heavy to keep doing it. No regrets. Teaching was hard, too.

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      1. got it, thanks ; yes, i taught high school for most of my working life; it was hard going at times; I had books of poetry published and taught in schools; but, of course, writing is not heavy lifting so age isn’t an issue —

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