These days it’s wise to be creative in using what we have and “turning a sow’s ear into a silk purse” as my mom used to say. I just had a large, messy silver maple taken down in my front yard. Having spent plenty just to get it down and hauled away, I wasn’t about to spend another fortune to have the stump removed. Instead, the tree guys cut the stump a bit higher than usual and with as flat a cut as they could manage to result in a perfect pedestal for a large shallow water basin for the birds. At the same time, a load of topsoil was delivered to fill in all of the pits and ruts in the lawn from the tree removal.
The mound of topsoil made a perfect hump mold for a hypertufa water basin. Here’s a very simple method for making a water basin in your garden.
What You Need
An open space in your garden where you can build a mound of earth to the desired size of your water basin.
Your favorite hypertufa recipe. Here’s mine:
http://fromthesummersgarden.blogspot.com/p/normal-0-false-false-false-en-us-ja-x_10.html
large mixing tub
shovel and garden rake
plastic tarp or heavy dropcloth
nail, string, and a sharpie
paintbrush and can of paint
mud gloves
a brick, a trow
bag of sand topping mix and a large paintbrush
What You Do
1. Using your garden shovel, build a mound in an open area of your garden larger than the desired size of your water basin. Use the rake to shape the mound and to get a nice smooth surface.
2. Spread out the tarp over a flat area. Tie the end of the string to the nail and push it into the center of the tarp. Measure out the desired radius of your basin and tie the other end of the string to the sharpie. Keeping the string taut, draw a circle around the nail. Using the brush and paint, go over the sharpie line to make it easily noticeable.
3. When the paint has dried, center the tarp over the mound of soil. Weight the corners to keep the tarp in place.
5. Scoop the hypertufa into the center of the circle, the top of the hump. Lightly spread out the material so that it is thicker at the top of the mound, about 2 inches, and gradually thins to 1 inch at the edges.
6. Use the brick to firmly tamp the entire surface of hypertufa, melding the mass into a single large disk. Then use your hand to polish and smooth the surface. Use the trowel to press in the outer edges of the basin so they are firm and not crumbly. Remember the edge is where you will be lifting the basin and you do not want it to be weak and break.
7. Finally, press the length of rebar into the hypertufa creating flutes all the way around the disk. These add strength as well as a nice decorative touch.
9. When completely dry, invert the basin and transfer it to its desired spot in your garden.
10. Mix sand mix concrete mix and use the large paintbrush to skim coat the inside surface of the basin. This will ensure it will hold water. Let the concrete dry completely and then you can leave it as and fill it with water or mosaic a decorative pattern with glass and tile on the inside. For this example, we used pieces of mirror, glass and marbles creating a dramatic focal point.
