From year to year, the trend of decorating suburban gardens with amazing flowerbeds, cascading waterfalls, winding paths and rock gardens is gaining momentum. Designing your site, any owner wants not only to transform the territory, but to get the so-called effect “so that it is not like everyone else”. In order to make beautiful and original decor elements it is not at all necessary to spend fabulous amounts. After repair or construction, a small part of the cement and putty always remains. Why not use them in business? Original figures made of cement, made by yourself, will act as a “highlight” of landscape design, making the site more attractive and interesting.
Exhibit # 1 - graceful sculptural hand
Just look at this magnificent garden decoration. The refined garden figure can easily be confused with the work of a professional craftsman.
For many, the figure causes interesting sensations that are difficult to express in words. Rather, it has a philosophical inner content, like figures for a garden in the style of Feng Shui
The sculptural hand, in addition to decorative value, also has a practical function. She acts as an original stand for flower beds with ground cover and undersized plants.
To make a figure, we need:
- Cement mortar;
- Putty on concrete for outdoor use;
- Reinforcing impregnation for concrete;
- Fine sandpaper;
- A pair of latex or rubber gloves;
- Capacity with high sides.
The solution is made from a mixture of cement and sand, maintaining a proportion of 3: 1, which we dilute with cold water to the consistency of thick sour cream. To give the concrete figure unusual colors, it is advisable to use special pigments. Dyes are added to the dry mixture at the kneading stage and only then diluted with water.
To make a sculpture in the form of palms, we take gloves and gradually fill them with a solution, trying to avoid the formation of voids with air. Then we put the filled gloves into a container, giving them the desired position.
While the solution has not frozen, you can safely experiment with the form, choosing the most optimal option: simply closing your palms, folding their cam or twisting your fingers together
It is possible to increase the strength of the figure by installing the frame: insert pieces of wire into the finger-filled compartments, being careful not to damage the rubber with sharp edges.
Having decided on the shape of the sculpture, we leave gloves filled with a solution in a container for 2-3 days. During this time, the solution will harden and gain sufficient strength.
When the cement is completely dry, we cut the gloves and remove them from the surface of the figure. The remaining rubber is removed with scissors and tweezers. At this stage, a lot of patience will be required, since the rubber will be removed in parts.
The original figure is ready. It remains only to choose a decent place for her in the garden and fill it with a mixture for planting soil protectors and succulents
We cover the concrete figure with a layer of putty, gently leveling the surface, and again leave it to dry for several hours. At the final stage, it remains only to polish the surface of the palms and cover them with firming impregnation.
Exhibit # 2 - elegant flowers made of concrete
Flowers poured out of concrete can be a bright decoration of the front part of the house or recreation area. Harmoniously combined with green spaces, they look great both along the curb of winding garden paths, and against the background of an emerald lawn.
The main advantage of such garden figures is their resistance to temperature extremes, due to which they are able to act as a decoration of the site for more than one season
Making elegant flowers from concrete is not at all difficult. For this, it is necessary to prepare a form that we will fill with the solution and the cement filler itself. The easiest way to use ready-made silicone baking molds. The variety of silicone molds is quite extensive.
You can make flowers of various shapes and sizes from silicone blanks: starting with ordinary field daisies and ending with multi-petal chrysanthemums and dahlias
To make concrete flowers, we need:
- Cement mortar in the same proportion as in the previous example;
- Acrylic or oil paint for outdoor use;
- Engine oil or drying oil;
- Polyethylene film.
Some craftsmen also use plastic bottles cut along, cut halves of rubber balls and other containers of suitable size as forms.
Since the key to creating concrete colors is the shape, to be able to reuse it, the inner walls must be lubricated with machine oil or drying oil. To increase the adhesion of the finished mixture and lighten the weight of the figure itself, it is desirable to add pieces of expanded clay to the solution.
We fill the form with a solution, ramming the contents as they fill. Holding the edges of the form, you need to shake it a little so that bubbles with excess air from the solution appear on the surface
We fill the mold filled to the brim with plastic wrap and leave it for a couple of days until it hardens in a place dry and hidden from direct sunlight. After the concrete has acquired sufficient strength, we take out the flower from the workpiece and spread it on a flat surface. It takes 4 to 6 days to completely dry out the figure in a shaded place. We can fill the freed form for the time being, forming the next flower.
To prevent the formation of cracks on the surface of the flower, it is recommended to moisten the hardening figure once a day with water. In the case when a crack nevertheless appeared, it is not difficult to correct the situation, having covered the flaw with a liquid cement mortar. In order to increase the strength of the finished concrete flower, its surface should be treated with reinforcing impregnation, which can be purchased at the construction center.
To decorate a flower from concrete, it is better to use acrylic paints that are able to maintain the brightness of the flower throughout the season.
The choice of shades when designing a flower depends on the color palette of the flowerbed and the taste preferences of the master himself.
Exhibit # 3 - Sea Pebble Turtle
A motley turtle, settling in a suburban area, will help create that special atmosphere of coziness and comfort.
With its presence, the tortoise Tortilla will certainly cheer up and delight the children and guests of the site
To implement the idea, you need to prepare:
- Medium sized stones of any shape;
- Pieces of metal rod;
- Cement mortar;
- Impregnation for concrete;
- Acrylic or oil paints.
The dimensions of the figure depend only on the ideas of the master and the amount of necessary materials. Having chosen a place for the installation of the figure, we align the area for its placement.
From the stones we form a small hill, which outwardly resembles the body of a turtle. To equip the paws of the figure at the level of the lower row of stones, we lay metal rods, which in the future will serve as the frame of the structure. On the same frame, you can "plant" the head of a turtle, or lay it on the ground. After the bottom row is laid and metal rods are inserted, cover it with cement mortar. All voids between the stones should be poured and compacted with cement. Following the same principle, we lay out subsequent rows, carefully fixing the stones.
Having laid the torso, we proceed to the manufacture of the paws and head of the animal. We select stones of small sizes and spread them with a slide around the bars. To fix the stones and give the desired semicircular shape to the paws and head of our character, it is better to use a solution of a thicker consistency. After we formed and fastened the paws of the figure, we proceed to the finishing work. To do this, level the surface and plaster it with a more fluid cement mortar. On a not yet frozen layer of cement, lay out sea pebbles.
Smooth, flat pebbles will perfectly mimic shell plates. To fix the pebbles in the shell, it is enough to slightly push them into the "plaster layer"
We leave the finished figure for 2-3 days for complete drying. After the concrete has hardened, the body and carapace can be painted with special pigments, and flat sea pebbles with acrylic paints.
It's not that complicated. A little imagination and patience - and a new memorable character will appear on your site, which will become a successful addition to landscape design.
