Add beautiful decor to your garden with these large concrete leaves to decorate your garden or fountain.
Directions:
1. You will need a table at a comfortable working level. You can build a temporary table out of sawhorses and a piece of plywood. Be sure to set it up in the shade, in order to prevent the concrete from drying out too much in the sun. Choose a leaf with nice vein patterns in the size you want. You can use a small leaf or a huge leaf – It’s up to you. On your table, build a sand mound about the size and shape of the leaf you’ve chosen.
2. Cover the sand with thin plastic to keep the sand out of your work.
3. Cut chicken wire the approximate shape and size of your leaf.
4. Lay the chosen leaf face down (back side of leaf should be up)
5. Put a fairly thin layer of concrete on the leaf. Then fit a precut piece of chicken wire to the back of the leaf.
6. Put another thin layer of concrete on and finish the edges. Cover with plastic and allow to cure slowly. If the concrete dries too quickly, it may crack or be less strong. If it is very hot outside, you can mist the concrete before covering it with plastic.
7. When cured, peal leaf off concrete – and it’s done!
What is needed for the job
Supplies
- 80# Sand mix
- 50# Mason sand
- 1 – roll of poly
- 1 – poultry netting
- 1 – All purpose mortar tub (for mixing)
- *tool to mix the sand mix – can use scrap wood or small trowel or shovel, saw horses and sheet of plywood for a makeshift work space
- GNH total for building leaf sculptures: $35.99 + Tax