Welcome -

Posting is slow, most activity on this forum happens when it get warmer. There is lots of helpful information on this forum. There use to be a FAQ section. Also Learn how to post photos, that will help your posts, if you have questions, all can see what you did. . My one word of caution to all that make hypertufa in the basement. Wear a mask. Breathing in the dust from Portland cement is not good for your long term health.

cherbo, good luck in you with projects - look forward to seeing your work

Mike

Thanks Mike. If my project turn out well I will post pictures. Thanks for the caution, I did wear a mask, gloves the whole works. I've read a lot and watched a lot of YouTube videos and I have gone through a lot of the old posts on this forum and it sounded easy enough. I've been wanting to try hypertufa for a few years now and finally jumped in.

I am brand new to this. I discovered hypertufa (through Google) over winter break and have been crazy about it ever since... I have to get good at this.... I am obsessed with wanting to make many various planters to surround my patio where it meets the grass. I mixed my first batch yesterday...I used a mask and mixed them outside, then carried the big tub of wet mixture into the house where I packed my molds and they can cure indoors then. I'm so very excited.

Cherbo & Victoria, Where are the pics of your creations?

Here is a bowl I made. I like how it turned out. It is filled with Spanish moss with three "grungy eggs" I made for the primitive look. We had our Easter open house at the shop I work for this weekend and I sold a couple of these, this one with the eggs and another one that I planted up with Hens and Chicks. I also sold a couple of other smaller bowls but I didn't get pictures of those. I'm so excited that they sold! I plan on making more and bigger projects to put out in the gardens.

Victoria, I'm like you I am getting obsessed with this stuff and I'm always looking on Pinterest for more hypertufa ideas. I can't wait to get outside and out of the basement to work on my projects.

Thank you Billie_Ann. I took the picture in the antique/craft shop I work for. I love taking pictures and I get a lot of fun photography practice there. We sell mostly antiques and primitive/folk art crafts. The eggs are the cheap plastic toy eggs that I covered with Mod Podge and cinnamon for a primitive look.

My bowls planted up with flowers.

A good sized bowl planted with flowers. I can't wait for the flowers to fill in fuller. The bottom picture are planted up with Hens n Chicks.

Will I continue to make Hypertufa?... You BET! Addictive!

cherbo, They all look great. Any plant works with hypertufa.

If you want to add a height feature to a bowl of hens and chicks wedge a stone/rock into the soil. Flagstone, slate, flat field stone. You can put round or small stones on the soil but I think you said you are selling these. It takes a while for small, round stones to become set in the soil or surrounded by the plants. Also for hens and chicks your soil doesn't have to be flat. Put a mound in the center or off to one side if the bowl is large enough. It's like you're mimicking nature, throw a "hill" in the pot. Just make sure the soil is a half inch to a inch below the bowl rim so you catch and hold water. I'll look and see if I have any pics of my miniature landscapes. I don't do bonsai but do use bonsai starters for shrubs in mini landscapes.

Thanks for the tips Billie! I had thought of getting some pea gravel to add on top. I'm in Illinois and we don't have many large rocks laying around.

We are having a garden event at the shop in just a couple of weeks and I am hoping to get everything planted up. I wish I had more time so they would look more lush before the event. I don't want to spend a lot of money on plants. I will probably also sell some of my pots without plants. I have four rectangle troughs and I haven't decided what to plant in those yet. As I said I don't want to spend a lot on plants. I don't know how well they will sell. We have a large popular green house just down the road from our shop and they sell beautiful lush flower filled pots of every shape and size so my little pots won't compare to what they have. BUT they don't have hypertufa lol.

I would love to see the pictures of you mini landscapes.