Yay! I did it! My first hypertufa planter!

Gosh, you guys are so nice! The leaves are actually concrete which has better fine detail than the hypertufa. The leaves are not too difficult, and the hypertufa is even easier. Here is the link I used for doing the leaves:

http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/accout/2002072754010311.html

This is another good link too, for a leaf birdbath:

http://www.gardengatemagazine.com/extras/53birdbath.php

I actually started with a bigger leaf and it wasn't too bad.

You need a board or other flat surface and you build a pile of sand, you just need to have the sand (the sand is what gives your leaf a nice curved shape). Put down plastic (I used old plastic grocery bags) and then lay your leaf bottom side up. The bottom side has more pronounced veins. Now I sprayed it with nonstick cooking spray. I made a mix of portland cement and sand about 50-50 and then I added enough water to make it very moist, but not so moist that it will spread all over. I start at the center of the leaf and start patting concrete onto the leaf. If you use a really big leaf you should use some type of reinforcement. I tend to make mine kind of thick. After the leaf is covered it needs at least 24 hours to totally set up.

This is the hypertufa recipe that I've come up with....it comes out very light when dry and looks very stone like because of the vermiculite.

1 part portland cement
1 part vermiculite (I love it, it's light and it has a pretty color, and gives the surface a bit of shimmer)
1 part peat (or I've used compost and I've also used manure (eewww Laughing

)

I use enough water to make a nice mixture like very wet clay.....

To make the container I used the top of my plastic cake keeper. I covered it totally with plastic bags and then sprayed it with non-stick cooking spray. Then I built the hypertufa on to it. I let it sit for a little over 24 hours.

The mushrooms are disposable drink cups filled with hypertufa and allowed to harden at least a day. Remove outer part of the cup, and then you have the stem.

for the cap mold I used a bowl with a very rounded center. I spray it with cooking spray and then fill with hypertufa. Once full I take the stem and push it into the cap..at least a couple of inches in. I let it sit about 15 minutes and then make the mushroom gills with an old butter knife. It needs plenty of time to harden so you don't have the stem break loose. After unmolding I shape the edges a bit with a Mr. Pumice (for sanding callouses off feet...ewww).

See...not that hard, just a little messy, but fun too!

I used what I could find, but any decent sized leaf should work. You can reinforce big leaves with steel mesh or fiberglass tape.

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~Anna