Category: Furnishings

Faux bois means “false wood.” Cement-based planters created to look like wood generally last much more than the real thing and will weather to look pleasantly rustic. They can be constructed from concrete or hypertufa, which has a more porous, sandstone-like texture. You can find recipes for many concrete or hypertufa combinations online. Select one which seems most suitable for the size of planter you wish to create, selecting stronger mixes for larger containers.

Find a container the size and shape you would like your planter to be. Put it inside a garbage bag. Smooth the bag so that it clings to the container and turn the container upside down on a tough surface.

Don heavy rubber gloves, a dust mask and goggles. Combine portland cement, masonry sand and fibermesh with water to make a concrete mixture. Instead, mix portland cement using peat and perlite, in addition to fibermesh and water, to earn a hypertufa mixture. Expand the ingredients in a wheelbarrow, plastic tub or plastic sink, adding water in tiny amounts until the mixture reaches the consistency of stiff frosting.

Implement your mixture to the plastic-covered container, using a trowel, to a depth of 1 or 2 inches. Produce flux in the mixture with your gloved fingers or the trowel to get a hardy tree-bark look. Leave a few raised places to represent knots or broken-off branches.

Cover the planter with moist burlap or plastic, allow it to sit for 12 to 36 hours, until it appears firm enough to get finer carving. Add more textures and lines as desired, using a table fork, roofing knife or nail. Use a piece of log or a picture as a guide, if necessary.

Maintain the planter covered with moist burlap or plastic for three more days. Turn it right side up and eliminate the plastic-covered container. File off rough edges using a wire brush.

Leave the planter to cure from the shade for several weeks. Fill it up with water and allow the water drain out gradually through the lines that are stale. Keep filling the planter with water for a couple weeks to allow lime to leach out, before placing any dirt and plants in it.

See related

Hypertufa, made from cement and peat moss, supplies the stuff for making a durable, long-lasting planting container. These pots have a rustic appearance that may match your landscape whether you plant them with foliage or flowering plants. Attention to detail during the molding and curing process ends in the best looking hypertufa container since it allows you to avoid unwanted roughness on the last outside of the pot. The finished pot has a similar shape to this mold. Use old vinyl planters or cardboard boxes in the desired shape to mold your hypertufa.

Establish your mold upside down to a plastic bag or bag. Cover the mold with a trash bag, smoothing out the wrinkles as best as you can. Any wrinkles still present appear inside the pot so they don’t impact the final appearance of the container.

Put on a set of rubber gloves and mix two parts peat moss, 1 part Portland cement, and 1 part sand or perlite in a huge bucket. Mix in a handful of concrete reinforcing fiber with these dry ingredients.

Mix in 1 part water slowly, combining it with all the dry ingredients together with your hands. Add water until the mixture is completely moistened but still stiff enough to hold its shape when squeezed. The mixture contains enough water when only a thin film of moisture is visible once you squeeze a couple of.

Cover the sides of the mold with a 2-inch-thick layer of this hypertufa mixture. Pack it solidly against the mold so it holds together. Place a two- to 3-inch depth on the cover of the mold, which will be the bottom of the finished container. Flatten it with your hands.

Smooth the sides of this hypertufa to your best-looking container after it dries. Any irregularities will harden and become permanent. Poke a hole in the middle of the bottom with your finger to offer drainage.

Place a plastic bag on the cap of the container and totally cover the hypertufa mixture. Allow it to cure for a single week in temperatures over 50 degrees Fahrenheit, or for two weeks in cooler temperatures. Remove the bag and mist the hypertufa once daily with water. Moisture helps the mixture cure correctly.

Remove the plastic bag and turn the container over quietly. Lift the mold from this container. Rub any sharp edges with a stiff brush to smooth them.

Manage the finished container for the next two weeks. Spray the container a couple of times each day with water for the next five days after the recovery period is finished. Spraying leaches out the alkalinity therefore it won’t hurt the plants you grow in the pot.

See related