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Anyone ever do this? At the Home Depot garden club last week, this was our hands on project. My mom attends this club with me and thoroughly enjoys it. The instructor helped her mold her pot, and obviously didn't get it thick enough in the mold on one side...she didn't have the strength for all that pushing and packing, so hers broke on one side when I took it out of the mold. You have to let the pots cure for a week before you can plant. Today was PLANTING day. Yesterday she bought a couple of little succulents and I already had the angelina sedum and the hens and chicks. We took pea gravel and some fossil rocks from the driveway to make a little scree where her side is broken to hold in the soil. Once the angelina starts growing you will never notice the broken side.

Isn't this cute.

and this is mine. The white is a sea shell from Gulf Shores that I tucked in there and the little owl has a new home.

I may make more next spring...they are fun and easy and IMHO very cute planters. You can make them any size, it just depends on your mold.

ve

Those are sooo cute! Glad you had fun!

gotta run... will have to read the words later. looks like a cool idea. would make great gifts??

Those are very cute. Great idea on hiding the broken part, that'll work just fine.

I've been meaning to do some hypertufa pots, but I have a DH who hovers, especially if I'm using something 'manly' like cement mix. He knows just how to use it all, ya know.

I've been meaning to make these for years, ever since Carol Duval (remember craft shows) did them.. Maybe next year. Yours look great.

I've always wanted to make one, saw them on a show and I know that I have the directions somewhere--hah along with lots of other stuff! Yours look great!

These things are soooo easy to make that the master gardeners let me teach a class on it one year.
There is a guy who is at all the Botanic Garden Plant sales and he sells succulents in hypertufa planters. He even has some sedums in a brick, it's a regular brick that you build with. The little holes in the brick are filled with soil and then he plants the sedums. He sells them for $15 a piece and they sell like hot cakes. He even brings extra bricks and extra sedums and will plant whatever you want right in front of you!

Wow Barb, that is amazing.....we could do bricks instead of the pots, right?

I am so glad that someone else has made them. I've heard about/read about them for years but never attempted because I thought they would be too labor intensive.......they are easy peasy...I would like to make some taller slimmer ones next year. I'm thinking about a soda bottle mold...not sure just how well that would work, but a gallon clorox bottle might!

Thanks y'all.


ve

This message has been edited. Last edited by: vera ellen,

Vera check out this mesage board!
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/hypertufa/
There's lots of messages and pics of things made of the hypertufa.

vera, I've seen hens and chicks in bricks and they are adorable. He has put some sedums in bricks, but I think the hens and chicks are the cutest.

We made some quite a few years ago and one has since broken but I have 3 left. I'd advise not making them too small as they dry out quickly and with no thin areas as they will break. They are heavy.

This was our first attempt at hypertufa and I'd do them differently if I were to do them again but they are usable.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: joyluck,

Sori, thank you for the link.....wow, they do a lot with hypertufa. amazing.

Joyluck - those look great........so the stepping stone is hypertufa as well. Too cute. I'm glad to see they are holding up well. I really like the big deep planter too.

Thanks

ve

Question, ladies...
I've only seen these planted with succulents. Is there a reason for that? Are they the only kind of plant that can go in there?

quote:

Originally posted by vera ellen:
Joyluck - those look great........so the stepping stone is hypertufa as well. Too cute. I'm glad to see they are holding up well. I really like the big deep planter too.

Thanks

ve

Thanks VE - the stepping stone is not hypertufa but a concrete one I bought at a yard sale. I don't think hypertufa stepping stones would hold up well, just my opinion, I've never made any. I have rhubarb leaf ones we made of concrete that are long lasting.

Nettiejay, I've planted herbs and annuals in my hypertufa but because the pots are somewhat porous they dry out quickly. I'm not having great success with what I put in the large one this year because it needs watering more than I'm doing so the annuals are surviving but not all that happy. Succulents are perfect for hypertufa cause they do well in a dry well-drained environment.

I'll bet Ajuga would do well in them too, they prefer dry soil to wet. In fact all of mine that were in the ground have rotted away from the rain. The ones in raised planters are flourishing.

quote:

Originally posted by zone9alady:
I'll bet Ajuga would do well in them too, they prefer dry soil to wet.

That's a good idea! I might do that next year. Since I live in a relatively dry climate my ajuga is somewhat invasive and I'm constantly weeding it out. It would be controlled in a hypertufa pot.

oh my, that ajuga is gorgeous. What a lovely idea z9 - thank you.


ve