There was a brilliant idea of making a cement impression of a rhubarb leaf - was it you Bonitin?
I've just been looking for it but can't find it. I'm feeling creative but not sure exactly how you did it.
A reminder would be great.
Pat
Rhubarb leaf bird bath
Sounds gorgeous Pat, what a lovely idea!!
Terri
Hi Pat,
It was not a rhubarb leaf, but one of the Fatsia japonica.
I've also done some with the leaves of the fig tree and of Ligularia dentata. In fact any leaves with pronounced nerves on the backside will make a nice imprint. These are leaves I have available in my garden.
I will explain you the process in how I made it;
First you put a sheet of plastic on the floor, on top of that you make a circle with a large pair of compasses, (if you don't have such a large one you can use a felt pen with a thread tied on it and make a circle by holding down the end of the thread in the centre and drawing the circle around it) or with whatever is round, like f.ex. a large bowl in the size you want it to be.
Then you make a shallow hill in humid sand, firm it with a shovel and/or hands and make the surface smooth. That goes well when the sand is bit humid.
On top of the hill you place the leaf or leaves with the underside up.
On top of that you start putting a first layer ( approx. 2 cm thick)of cement all over the hill and leaf and extend it 5 or more cm along the borders of the hill.(you can take that in account when deciding about the size you want it).
Then you push some chicken wire in that first layer (that is needed to make it winter proof). On top of that you add a second layer and make it all smooth.
When hardend in about 2 or 3 days, you carefully turn it upside down, brush away the sand inside and peel off the leaf.
The edges will be a bit rough so you sandpaper them to make them smooth. In the first week it should still be handled carefull because the cement hasn't reached it full strenght yet.
Cement preparation:
I usely use white cement and the proportion are :
1 part white cement
1 part yellow sand (serves as a natural colouring)
1 part white sand
+ Compactuna, that makes the cement easier to mold and makes it more weather resistant and stronger.
You can of course also use the normal gray cement.
I will have to try it, thanks.
Those sparrows look happy. Thank you very much for the information. I have made my prototype, just to see how it works out. I used a bag of sand I had left from something else so it will probably be much rougher than your lovely one. It has already had a slight accident as my partner stood on the edge of it and broke a bit off! You would think he would notice a large slab of shaped concrete on a bed of sand. I'm going to let it set for another day or two before turning it over and I'll take a photo of it (so you can have a good laugh!)
Thanks again
Pat
Pat, you could still repair the damaged part!! Specially when the cement is not fully hardened yet it will hold. It is easier to do when it is still not turned. Just leave it then a day longer before you turn it.
While you are in a creative mood, you could also make a birdbath-fountain or a birdbath mounted on a pillar ?
All the birds in my garden enjoy it!
Blue tit and sparrow in the bath
I have placed several birdbaths in my garden after I had noticed the success it had with the bird population.
I have been busy the last couple of weeks making a birdbath-fountain ordered by a friend and wanted to show how the plate turns out after you follow the making process I've described above. It still needs to be mounted on the pillar.
Bonitin,
I wish I could send you some of our leaves to use. I am too lazy (unskilled) to make my own bird water station.
Here is a leaf that would make a big impression>
Wow! These certainly would make an impressive imprint, Dale! But I'm not sure if I could handle the size of plate that is needed. It could never pass through my front door, besides the fact that I would need a bunch of bodybuilders to carry it!
Hi Myriam
How did you make the underside of the birdbath?
Last year I tried making one, but it is not steady on the pillar.
Monica
Hi Zest! Sorry, I had only explained the process of making a simple birdbath; but the one I posted last is going to be mounted on a pilar, so it needs more stages to get to there. This time I have photographed the whole process with pictures and as you seem to be interested I will post them all here. Pictures explain better than just the verbal explanation.
So here we go;
First stage; de preparation of the surface. As the pavement on my courtyard is not waterpas I have made a platform with a huge strong square wooden board of 115cm/115 cm under which I put pieces of wood to make it perfectly waterpas; this is important as one wants the water to run evenly on all sides. On top of that a sheet of plastic and on top of that one draws two circles with a huge pair of compasses or a feltpen and cord.
This is the shallow hill of humid sand. It has to be shallow, because birds are afraid of deep water to bath in.
The sand hill is made in the inner circle.
On top of that one places the leaves with the nerves upside.
In the exact middle of the hill one sticks a peace of a sanitary tube; that's where the water will have to come out.
This is the result after applying two layers of cement with chicken wire in between (like I explained above). The cement covers the whole outer circle.
Bonitin,
Have you even made the bird bath with the leaves completely covering the pile of humid sand? Would that create a problem?
The more I look at this thread, the more I want to try to make one for my yard.
Now comes the part where you make a mounting piece for the plate.
I use cheep plastic hanging baskets, specially bought for that purpose. I did cut out the under part of it.
I paint it inside with some oil and then pour in cement; don't forget to hold a piece of sanitary tube in the exact middle.
After you let this dry a couple of days you take it out its mold; (that is easier it you also cut a side of the basket and hold it together with a piece of iron wire or with tape for it to hold the cement).
Dale, I never tried to use only one leave covering the whole sand hill, (don't have such a huge leaves)but I don't think that would cause a problem, but you will have to provide a whole in the middle where the water has to come out.
The same mold, but turned upside down to pour in the cement.
When you've take out the mounting piece from its mold, it is glued with fresh cement on the backside of the plate, making that the two holes match exactly. (the pieces of sanitary tubes can easily been taken out when wrapping a bit of plastic around them, or remove them when the cement is firm but still not hard).
This is how the plate looks when turned around;
It is still in a rough stage and will will need to be sandpaperd. That still fairly easy as the cement is not fully hardened yet.
This picture shows the underside of the plate with the mounting piece glued on it. I use a generous amount of cement for that, not only in between the two parts but also around the piece, so that they turn out to be very strongly united.
I lost some pictures of the making process of the pilar, but I'll show what I have.
For the foot of the pilar, I also use a plastic basket but of a much larger size
When that one is ready and taken out of its mould, I take a chimney pipe or street pipe and place it on top of the foot.
Again it is important to work on a water pas surface.
Then I start to apply cement all around the pipe and at the same time gluing the pipe to the foot. I do this in several layers, because to do it all at once is impossible because of Newtons law! In the exact middle of the pipe I stick a sanitary tube and poor in more cement. Inside that one comes a flexible tube (don't know the English word for that)
that leads the water to the surface of the plate by means of a water pomp.
I send some pictures of the pilar; I've made also other models,I this one will look like a mushroom when mounted.
another view;
upper view
I have some pictures of a working one I made for an art gallery, but cannot find them at the moment.
Aahhhh that looks manageable, I new sanitary tube had to be useful for something :o)) you have made it easy to understand the steps.
Some how I feel, that you had planned to show us how before I ask. Will try and keep my mouth shut next time :o))
I´ll do some modifications though, as I don’t have a water pump, and I already have a pillar, I will for now make a birdbath with out the hole in the middle. Will have to fill in water manually. Later when I can afford a pump I will try with the hole.
This is what I made last year, it is not that steady and since it is a bit deep, no wonder the birds don´t like it. The other is that is does not hold water for long anymore, no idea why. But it can be used as a planter. Hens and chickens maybe.
http://www.simplesite.com/oxalis/4128541?i=5015348
I used a big leaf, have no idea what plant it s, but it grew near a river.
Thanks so much :o)))
Zest, I find your fountain fantastic; comes like straight out from a fairy tale! Perhaps it is not fit as a birdbath but it is a nice garden sculpture!
Please don't keep your mouth shut and feel free to ask whatever is still not clear! I am very glad to be of help and my purpose is to promote drinking and bathing places for our dear friends; the birds.
The depth of my plates varies from 7 to 8 cm in the centre, this is for the big ones with a diameter of 100 to 110 cm; this of course diminishes gradually towards the sides, where it arrives to a bird-friendly bathing depth.
Perhaps the reason that yours leaks could be that there is a crack in it from the frost of last winter, the crack doesn't need to be big to make it leak. If so it is still possible to seal it on the underside with some silicone. For that reason I use chicken wire for better resistance to frost damage.
In my own garden I only have a smaller version of the birdbath fountain, because the big one would be out of proportion with the small size of my garden.
Look how they enjoy it!! The picture is blurry because my camera is not really suited for taking pictures of moving objects in the distance.
They do look so happy :o)))
Thanks stole the idea from here
http://www.gardengatemagazine.com/extras/53birdbath.php
Hypertufa and Concrete forum
http://davesgarden.com/forums/f/hypertufa/all/
I think is it not steady because the base is not deep enough to be stabilized by the pillar.
It was not out side in the winter, and again it seems to be the base that is to week. probably a hole some were
I have a question
Regarding how to put the plastic hanging basket, is it better to put it up as here
http://davesgarden.com/forums/fp.php?pid=3609291
and then put the sanitary tube on the top, to get the little cement piece below?
http://davesgarden.com/forums/fp.php?pid=3609314
hope you can understand what I mean, it is not always easy to explain.
Regarding the pump, how does it work? Is it set to give off water every 10-15 min?
Have no idea.
It is easier to put the plastic pot with the wider part up to pour in the cement while holding the piece of sanatary tube in the middle. When it has hardened you take it out from its mold and glue it to the bottom of the plate, like described above.
The pomp when switched on sends the water constantly to the plate, from where it runs down into a little pond, so there is a constant circulation of the same water.
I will try to make a picture of it working the next time I have to be in the art gallery.
okay, got it :o))
that is actualy a good idea to have a pond were the water runs down. was wondering that here would
be a big pool of water under it, if the water just run freely.
This is my first rather crude attempt. I wasn't sure what to seal it with, so got a couple of sample pots of masonry paint. Unfortunately they didn't have any rhubarb colours and this is much lighter than I would have wanted.
I'm quite pleased with the impression of the leaf - it is about 2 feet across, but the bit where the thick stem was was a bit tricky as I had to build it up so the water didn't spill out.
It should look OK when it has weathered a bit. I may try one on a stand next time, but will make the mound of sand higher so the leaf is more cup shaped to hold more water - although the birds don't want to swim do they?
People, some breeds of dogs and fish are the only creatures that enjoy swimming :-)
The photo has vanished - Hopefully - here is the photo:
It looks very pretty ;o))))
There are happy birds on the way :o))
That looks really pretty Pat! It will sure look even better when getting that weathered look.
I promised I would give a picture of a fountain at work and after visiting the galery I was able to take some.
The diameter of this one is about 95 cm (the largest I made untill now was 110 cm), of course one can make it in any size you like.
The total hight is about 85 cm.
