How to Make a Hypertufa Ball

Hypertufa is a mixture of Portland cement, sand and peat moss used as an artificial rock. It has been around since the 1800s as a lightweight alternative to stone or concrete. It was first used as a substitute for natural volcanic rock called tufa, which was used to make planting troughs. Tufa is no longer readily available, so hypertufa was born as a great substitute. There are many different recipes for hypertufa depending on the results you want. For instance, you might pick a hypertufa recipe depending on whether you want a lighter-weight product or something more durable, if you want to carve it. Those factors can determine what hypertufa recipe you mix up. All hypertufa recipes are varying combinations of Portland cement, peat moss, perlite or vermiculite, sand and water. You can make planters, stepping stones, birdbaths, lanterns and balls. You can sculpt it, mold it or sand-cast it. You can carve it, color it or add mosaic pieces to it. Hypertufa is great material for the garden artist. Let's find out how to make a hypertufa ball.

Portland Cement
Sand
Peatmoss

Instructions

- 1
  Start simple. Start by making a stepping stone or just a hypertufa ball. Do not start with a complicated project until you are proficient with hypertufa and comfortable using it.
- 2
  Use this simple hypertufa recipe. There are many others, and you can experiment as you become more proficient, but this is a good recipe to start with. Mix 3 1/5 gallons of Portland cement (do not use Quickcrete), 2 gallons of sand and 1 1/2 gallons of peat moss.
- 3
  Wear rubber gloves. Wearing a respiratory mask is a good idea because Portland cement is a fine material and easily inhaled. Break up the peat, removing all large twigs and other pieces of material. Mix it until you cannot see peat or sand. You can store this basic mix and wet it as you need it. It stores well, but will harden if exposed to humidity.
- 4
  Use a peat moss sieve to sift the peat moss. That makes it easier to clean it. Most other tools you will probably already have and will find them in the house as you need them.
- 5
  Put some dry mix in a bucket, and wet it just a little at a time, mixing well after each water addition. You must wear disposable gloves to work with this. Do not get the mixture too wet. Always reserve some dry mix in case you have to add some for more firmness and for patching the finished product, if necessary. Mix the hpyertufa until it holds its shape fairly well when a ball of it is squeezed in your hand.
- 6
  Make a ball. To make a hypertufa ball, you can use an old tennis ball. Cut the tennis ball in half and smear some petroleum jelly inside the ball, covering the entire inside surface. That will make the ball come off more easily when the hypertufa dries. Fill the mold by putting handfuls of mix in it and gently patting. Fill both halves of the tennis ball. Be sure you fill them completely. Work it in until you are sure there are no air spaces. Just keep filling the ball halves and patting in the material.
- 7
  Put the two halves of the ball together and press them together firmly. Any excess will squeeze out and fall off. Put your ball on top of damp sand, and let it cure for at least 36 hours.
- 8
  Carefully remove the two halves of the tennis ball. You now have a hypertufa ball. If you wish, you can use some wet mix to clean up the ball where you find imperfections and wipe it off with a rag as if you were sanding it.
- 9
  As you become more comfortable with hypertufa, move on to more and more complicated projects.

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