Yes, you can do that.
Have you been to the hypertufa forum?
They have lots of info there.

I finally posted this question there, Nona. I was just conderned that if the green leaves stayed on the cement through a long curing process in water that there might be discoloring. I've decided that in the next couple of days I'll keep working on peeling the green part of the leaves off and deal with the deep veins once the leaves are cured and dried! Does this seem sensible to you?

thanks

Deborah

If it were me I would just let it dry then use a heat gunn to burn it out.

Thanks both who responded. And now I have another way which I decided to try. I peeled the leaf pieces off...times consuming but do-able. Then I worked at the stems and veins with little success. I decided to try a hard steam of water with a hose. And it does work! I have a tool (pointed screwdriver) and aim a pretty hard stream of water at the end of the vein. The end lifts and using the pointed tool to keep things going I continue to use the stream of water and yay! it comes out pretty easily.

Whew! Deborah

I don't know why you were so set on getting the leaf out so quickly. Trying to dig it out could damage the peice. If you let the whole thing set for a week or two, the leaves would dry out and flake off by themselves. If there is any staining, it fades in the sun, but in the mean time it adds character to the piece.