Job:06-700309 Title: CPS - Container Gardening Complete
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Job:06-700309 Title: CPS - Container Gardening Complete
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Job:06-700309 Title: CPS - Container Gardening Complete
#175 Dtp: 229 Page: 42700309 - ContainerGardens_001-272_FINAL.indd 43 5/24/17 10:58 AMSTEP 7 After the mold is completely covered with mix,
flatten the top. This will become the base of the planter
after the dried hypertufa is lifted off the mold and
flipped over, helping the planter sit level on the ground.
Cover the entire planter with a sheet of clean plastic
and allow the planter to dry. Lift the plastic a few
times a day and squirt the planter with a mist of water,
covering all surfaces—this will slow the curing and
strengthen the planter. Small planters will be ready to
remove from the mold in just a day or two, but large
planters like this one can take up to a week.STEP 8 You’ll know your planter is ready to separate
from the mold when the outer surface cannot be
scratched with a screwdriver or scratch awl. Don’t
rush this initial stage. It’s better to wait too long than it
is to risk cracking the planter by taking it off the mold
too early. Once your planter is ready, carefully lift it offthe mold. If you used enough non-stick cooking spray,
it should separate from the plastic very easily. As soon
as your planter is off the mold, cut away any uneven
edges with a drywall saw. This is your only chance to
do this because once the hypertufa fully cures, it will
be too hard. Carefully move the planter to a shady area,
flip it over, and leave it undisturbed for 3 to 6 weeks (or
longer, if it’s a larger planter).STEP 9 When the planter is fully cured, it will be light
gray and weigh much less than it did before. To leach
out the alkaline lime found in the Portland cement, fill
the cured planter with water and let it sit. Empty and
refill the pot every few days for about two weeks. Once
the leaching process is complete, use a drill fitted with
a^1 ⁄ 2 -in. masonry bit to drill a drainage hole in the base
of the container. Your new hypertufa container is now
ready to be planted!42Text Black7
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Getting Started 43As you decide which containers are best for
your garden, remember, you don’t have to stick
to just one type of material. Find what works
best for your budget, your landscape, and your
sense of aesthetics. If you don’t feel the need for
every container to be the same, mixing different
container materials can add interest and texture to
your container garden. Experiment with different
materials to find the ones that work best for you.New Containers vs.
Repurposed Items
In addition to considering what types of materials
are best for the containers in your garden, you
should also spend some time considering whether
you’d like to purchase new (or gently used) garden
containers, or create your garden with repurposed
items. Or perhaps you’d like to have a container
garden that combines both. As long as an object
meets the important requirement of holding
an ample volume of soil and it’s made of anappropriate material, there’s no reason why you
can’t turn it into a garden container.
The biggest plus of using repurposed items as
growing containers is the cost. If you already have
appropriate items on hand or find them from a
garage sale, flea market, or someone else’s trash
pile, it will cost you little to nothing to get your
container garden started. But before adding a
repurposed object to your container garden, keep
these considerations in mind:- Make sure the object isn’t something valuable.
Before using an inverted glass lampshade or
old beer stein to hold plants, make sure they
are not valuable antiques. - Be careful about using items that may have
been painted prior to the late 1970s, because
until 1978, many paints were lead-based—a
well-known health hazard.
Many household items (including old tool boxes)
can be repurposed into garden containers. Just make
sure they’re made of an appropriate material and hold
enough soil for the plants you want to grow in them.
Old cast-iron bathtubs make great garden containers,
but they may be contaminated with lead-based paints.
Use caution when considering them for the garden.Job:06-700309 Title: CPS - Container Gardening Complete#175 Dtp: 229 Page: 42 (^) Text Black Job:06-700309 Title: CPS - Container Gardening Complete #175 Dtp: 229 Page: 43
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