Once Upon a Time

A long time ago ..... about twenty five years ago ... I made several hypertufa troughs for growing alpines in.  I still have them and today I finally got around to making some more.

Hypertufa is a mixture of sand, cement and fibrous soil-less compost.  My previous troughs were made using two differently sized cardboard boxes as a mould but today I was coating polystyrene boxes for a less weighty end result.  The boxes - fish or fruit boxes - are prepared by making holes in them for drainage and to allow the mixture to form a bond between inner and outer surfaces.

Working on a wooden board placed over the end of a raised bulb frame I started by making the base then building up the sides by pressing the wet but not sloppy mixture into place.  Wearing rubber gloves is a must as the wet cement is caustic.  It’s kind of a sophisticated version of making mud pies!  Two days to cure slowly under plastic sheeting and a week or so after until they are dry.   When they are cured I will work over the surfaces to give a  more natural stone look.  Do I make it sound simple?  Well, it is a pretty simple, if quite physical job.  Lots more info on how to do it in this link.
 
I’ll admit to being just a tad nervous about whether I’ve made the walls thick enough.   Will find out in a week or so when I move them :-/ ;-)