I don't know if you have Hobby Lobby stores in your area. They carry some "fake" ones that may interest you. They are made out of some kind of plaster.

What about doing something with round sewer pipe? They come in different sizes. I have seen them used as columns at one place in town.

Or you can make your own out of concrete/hypertufa. There are several people who have in the Hypertufa Forum. Some of them use the carboard tubes you buy at Home Depot for concrete pillars as molds.

Desperate, the link here is a little inspiration for what I'm talking about.

In addition to using the cardboard tubes, they've also used column molds from a place called History Stone or History Molds--can't remember for sure at the moment.

Make sure you check out Dena's photoalbum and talk with her if you're interested in doing that. There are a few others but I'm not sure who is around anymore since we've had our resident troll chase a lot of good people away.

Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: Little and Lewis

I made a column last year (combination of tufa and concrete) starting with a cardboard tube from Home Depot. I put a 4-inch pvc pipe in the middle so I could use it for a water feature later on. The pipe runs all the way through the tube and base.

Jean

yup--thse are all fantastic ideas (i'm afraid that unless i use some combo of concrete and hypertufa, our Nor'easters will just blow this thing over) I just went to Home depot yesterday and checked out their column 'molds' for concrete-
all of them were 4 feet tall and then in varying diameters-8", 10" and 12".

There is a new book on sale at Amazon for $15 by Sherri Hunter on making statues, etc for the backyard. I ordered
a copy.

Thanks to all of you for your excellent advice and yes,
I've been to the littleandlewis website--that's where I
first decided that I had to have columns, too.

do contact phil kratch or warren leach at tranquil lake nursery in rehoboth ma.(just outside of providence) (call them; do not email them). they made 10'? high columns out of 12" ? diameter pvc pipe and then painted them and they look great. none blown down.
their display gardens are so special-do yourself a favor and visit them!
best,
mindy

desperation, You said you wanted 3-5' tall and the "Sonotubes" come in 4' lengths. If you want 3'just cut the cardboard tube down. If you need 5' just buy two tubes and cut what you need from one and duct tape and glue (on the outside) to the other tube. Depending on what recipe of hypertufa you use it can be as heavy as concrete. You can also bury one end in the soil. Billie