First you say? WOW! I can hardly wait to see YOUR talents progress!

He is SPECTACULAR! No wonder your roses are so beautiful--the grot does a good job of scaring the nasty insects away.

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Wow! Great first job! Paring knife? What did he look like before you peeled off his skin?????? Keep up the great work. But what variety of roses? Wow, I want that rose garden!! I have heavy clay soil, and roses don't like it! And then the Japanese beetles moved in yesterday! BB

VERY good job. As you can see, it's not so much the tool that's used but the hand wielding it. Tufa is way cool. Not only does it save you a ton of money vs. buying statuary, but it's alot of fun.

Now that you're officially addicted, keep 'em comming.

Great rose garden!

Thanks everyone for the SO nice compliments! It gives me incentive to try again soon when I find a way to get my peat finer. I'd rather buy it that way, lol I'm lazy : Ã

And thank you for complimenting my roses, they're my first love :)
ButterflyBush, that's the English rose garden, it has a few Romanticas thrown in here and there (the climber the grot is guarding is Eden, a Romantica) and a couple of Generosas, but it's mostly Austins. After I took those pictures yesterday, I slapped japanese beetles into a little bucket of soapy water for a while, the nasty buggers.

When I attempt another 'tufa project, it'll be for the hybrid tea bed or the OGR garden-in-progress. I'm thinking some kind of 'tufa holder for my gazing ball next...I have an idea for the actual holder but I need suggestions and pointers for making a pillar for it to sit on...feel free to instruct me (said hopefully)!

Diana

I just looooooove Motley.

Small pillar , use an oatmeal box. After it has set , peel the paper off and sit it in a square form of some kind and fill with crete or tufa for a base.

Taa - Daaaaaa !

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Thank you scooterbug! What would you suggest using for a big fat one...say about 2 ft tall and a foot in diameter?

Diana

Diana,

Love your grot. I wonder what you could do with some real tools. You have a lot of talent. Can't wait to see more (please).

Amy

Diana, you'd better watch what you fertilize your roses with...you're growing some scary stuff. Your grot really does look like he just sprang from the earth to guard your rose bushes. Too cute!! The hands are a nice touch, too.

Deb

Hi Diana, love your garden, and Motley Crue is wonderful!!!! Jody sent me!!! You have talent.

Diane,

I love your grot! My suggestion for a taller pillar is using the cardbord tufes carpets are rolled on. Carpet retail stores have a bunch of them. They come in 12' lengths and cut it down to the size you want.

Serene

You can also get tubes that are used for footings in the concrete section of Home Depot. They come in several sizes from 8" to 24" in diameter.

Your grot is so inspirational to all of us. Thanks for sharing.

Serene how 'fancy' a pillar do you want?
There are no end to the ways of casting these.
My neighbor wanted to make four pillars with ONE 3 foot long 6 inch Sonotube so he dropped in a garbage bag and filled it up with concrete.
He slid off the tube the next day and tore off the bag which had embedded in the concrete, it had broken off chunks in other spots.
He was not happy, it was pretty darned ugly, so I suggested he grind out the plastic marks with a wire brush in his drill. Make it a freeform pillar

His pillar is now beautiful, it almost looks like gray driftwood. Now he's trying to figure out how he can get his pillars to curve a bit.
He created faux bois by accident and now he's addicted.:)

Is it just me or is anyone else wondering where the little dog went in the second picture... Hmmmm.... :)

That is a very impressive first piece. Just fantastic work. I can't wait to see what you do next. And I can't wait to try something similar myself. Appreciate the inspiration! =)

Mike

OMG garden_of_mu!! I'm not worthy! (insert bowing and scraping here)
Lol! -but seriously, I printed out your instructions at your website and that's how Motley was born :) YOU were the inspiration for this grot, Mike. Otherwise I'd have procrastinated and lurked forever, probably. Thank you so much for the compliment!

And thank you everyone else for your so kind words. And for the tips for the pillar forms, that makes it much easier for me.

Deb I wish I could take credit but Austins are famous for the "Jolly Green Giant Syndrome". They do love Rose Tone though. Mostly organics, they get a feeding starting tomorrow, prolly take two days to feed them all. Sigh.

Lol GardenChicken! It would be a contest as to who ate who first, my Priss is such a little piggy :)

Hi Ruby! Glad you could stop by and see what a great forum this is...you should stay a while.

Diana

Hi Diana,
I am usually in garden junk forum.was just browsing and
came upon this forum.I just have to know how you made him!
I collect gargoyes and have not been able to find any good
ones.I love him! Please let me know where I can go to get
directions.I will be forever in your debt..lol
Debby
you are one talented person

Hi Debby,
Thank you, I'm so glad you like Motley! Here is a link to the site I got my instructions from, garden of mu. (Thanks Mike!)

Motley was built up on an upside down broken ceramic flowerpot that I was going to throw out, and half of a plastic 4" flowerpot laying on it's side that I molded his mouth/face on.

You should hang out a while and read the posts, everyone has such great ideas here!

Diana

Here is a link that might be useful: Garden of Mu Garden Art page

Diana,
thank you very much for that site!
my hubby just looked over my shoulder
and just shook his head.LOL
maybe I will stick around for awhile,
thank you,
Debby

Hey Diana,
Was lurking about (I have a project I wanna do) and saw your GROT!
You go girl!!! He's wunnnnerrrful!!!
AT (Kimmy) :)

Kimmy! How are you! I was just thinking about you, I have something that I need your advice on for sure. I'll email you when I can slow down a bit. I want to do a mosaic type project, or maybe just tile but I need some how to's and pointers and you were the one that popped into my mind, lol!

Thank you for liking my Motley :)

Diana

I'm glad my instructions helped! But I just modifed the awesome instructions and inspiration from Wyleesee. (Thanks Wy!) =) I love how it is all a big circle with everyone inspiring others, putting their own spin on an idea, and then inspiring others in turn again.

Mike

good gallery of Grots

Wow, your Motley Grot is such an inspiration! After I saw yours I got busy and made a few of my own- hopefully I can post a picture here properly...{{gwi:70461}} I gave this one too my Mother for her birthday! Kathy

Love your Grot Kathy, what character! Let us know your mom's reaction... I can just imagine if I gave one of those to my mom (hehehe)!

Would love to see pictures of your others.

Thanks Garden Chicken-
He's supposed to be yawning, that's why one eye is shut. These guys are sooo much fun to make, they are addictive. I've got two more curing. I'll post pics once they've been leached and planted. I didn't use any molds or carving on them, just added 'tufa mud and patted and squeezed and coaxed the stuff around two plastic pots (one for the planter hole and a small upside down one to support the open mouth), till I was happy with the results. I used polished black stones for the eyes.
My mother was delighted with her Garden Grot- she has a lovely garden and was very happy to have a Grot to protect it!

These are so fabulous! I'm hoping to mix up a mess of my own this week. Good job everyone!
Wylee

I can't get any of the garden of mu links to work. Can someone please give me the recipe and instructions to make one of these adorable characters??
Thank's Debby