Hi to all,

I want to make a raised bed garden and I need some assistance please. Each raised bed is to be between 20 to 24 inches high (because of physical problems, I need to be able to sit on a stool to garden.) I want the shape of the garden to be in a simple spiral labyrinth shape (this will allow for the meditation achieved with a labyrinth when I walk the garden.) I want to be able to reach to the center of the spiral from either side when seated, so each raised area will be between 4 and 6 feet across. Of course, I want to have this built as cheaply as possible, but long lasting and meaningful to me. Part of the reason for the construction is that it will be a memorial to my mom who just died after suffering for years of Lewy Body Dementia, and to my dad who is living with Alzheimer's Dementia.

I realize I could make it with 2 foot lengths of hand made concrete forms, and give it the ILLUSION of a curve, but I would rather have curves if it is physically and economically possible. And hypertufa is more natural and interesting looking than plain concrete.

My questions are:

1. Will the walls made out of hypertufa be strong enough to hold so much dirt? If so, how thick should the hypertufa walls be?
   
2. Would the blue styrofoam from Home Depot (that someone else mentioned) make good forms for the curves in the spiral labyrinth? If so, will the styrofoam be reusable -and if so, under what circumstances (ie. do they need to be greased or something like that?
   
3. With such tall walls (20 - 24 inches tall) what type of support is needed inside the walls(reebar - chicken wire, or what?

Also, another question. I wanted to make a fountain for the same labyrinth healing garden and I wanted an inexpensive way to make life-size figures of my three young daughters. I have been told ceramic is much too spendy and difficult. I saw the post about a totem pole made out of hypertufa, but could one make a sculpture using hypertufa? If so how?I envision the fountain looking like sculptures of my girls with simple copper piping in their (hypertufa) hands (and of course the water running through the copper pipes.)

I am brand new to this site, so forgive me for not knowing much about it. I read all the posts in the archives about these subjects, but none seemed to exactly answer my questions. Also, I noticed several people had offered pictures of their creations, but the photos seemed to have been removed, so I couldn't see them.

Thanks for your help.

CindyCindy