How to Make Glass Mulch With Your Cement Mixer

Natural sea glass goes through agitation with sand and water to smooth the edges and produce beautiful stone-like pieces. You can duplicate this process at home with a household cement mixer, to make sea glass mulch for landscape purposes. Benefits of making your own glass mulch include the ability to choose the colors of glass, size of the pieces and to make large quantities for pathways or garden beds. The process may take some trial and error to obtain the best texture for your needs.

Glass bottles
Gloves
Burlap bag
Course sand
Water
Course screen

Instructions

- 1
  Break colored glass bottles into pieces close to the size desired. Wear gloves and place the bottles in a burlap bag, while breaking, to prevent injury. Place the broken glass in the cement mixer.
- 2
  Pour about 1 cup of sand for each cup of glass into the cement mixer. Use course-grit sand, similar to that found in the sea or a river.
- 3
  Fill the cement mixer about three-quarters full of water, or to the maximum fill line marked inside the mixer cavity.
- 4
  Turn the cement mixer on and let it run for about two hours before checking on the texture. Churn the glass for one hour at a time, after the first two hours, until it reaches the desired texture. Glass becomes more smooth and etched the longer it churns in the cement mixer.
- 5
  Pour the glass and sand slurry through a course screen to drain the water and sand. Rinse the glass with clean water to remove remaining sand.

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