Hypertufa Garden Art

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Hypertufa Garden Art
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So What Is Hypertufa Anyway

Hypertufa is a mixture of materials that makes an artificial Tufa Rock. It can be molded into any shape you want for making your Garden Art.

Hypertufa is used to make garden troughs, fake rocks and boulders, stepping stones, garden spheres, totem poles, and all kinds of other garden accessories and art objects.

Hypertufa Trough

Hypertufa is a great way of making your own long lasting garden planters, troughs, and art objects.

You just smooth your hypertufa mixture into the mold that you want to use, let it dry, and then you have your very own DIY garden art that is ready for display and will last for many years even in harsh outside weather. 

So what exactly is Hypertufa (which is pronounced hyper-toofa) Well Hypertufa is the name for an artificial stone. It is used to make a substance similar to the natural volcanic rock called Tufa. Tufa is used to make planting troughs, bird baths, and other things but has become a difficult rock to get.

Hypertufa started being used in the mid 19th century by mixing sand, peat, various volcanic aggregates and cement. It is much lighter than stone or concrete and can withstand cold winter temperatures and blazing summer heat equally well.

Since most Tufa deposits have been depleted the Hypertufa mixture is becoming more and more popular. This mixture also has the advantage that it can be molded and carved into any shape that you want.

Click Here to start learning all of the tricks from the Hypertufa Expert, Claudia Brownlie.

Tufa Leaf

So How Do You Make It?

There are many variations of the basic Hypertufa Recipe and how you mix it depends on what you want to make. There are different recipes that will make it easier to carve, lighter, or more durable depending on what your goal is. 

The Basic ingredients are usually some combination of Portland cement, peat moss, sand, perlite, or vermiculite, and water. This mixture can then be placed in a mold, formed by hand, or carved into whatever shape you desire. You can even add concrete dye to the mixture to change its color as well.

You can make an almost limitless variety of garden accessories and art using hypertufa. A fairly short list to give you an idea includes: hypertufa pots, troughs, containers, stepping stones and faux rocks, garden lanterns, spheres, columns, totem poles, bird baths and hypertufa containers. You can sculpt it, hand form it, carve it, mold it, color it, and add pieces to it to create whatever effect you like. 

hypertufa rock

For your first project it is best to start out simple. Try making a few simple hypertufa planters or a stepping stone. If you jump too quickly into a complex project then most people will have problems getting it right. Starting off with a simple project allows you to learn the process before tackling some of the more complex projects.

It does take a little practice to get the feel for which recipes to use, molding the hypertufa, making sure that it completely cures, and getting it back out of the mold. After a few projects these tasks will start becoming much easier to perform though.

The materials and tools that you will need to make your projects are all easy to come by. You most likely already have most of the tools you need out in the shed. Making molds can also be as simple as a cardboard box or a large plastic bowl.

You can get as fancy or simple as you like with your hypertufa projects and what you decide to make is mostly only limited by your own imagination.

So are you ready to try your hand at Hypertufa?
