Despite the fact that the modern market offers a lot of flowerpots for outdoor plants, there are craftsmen who create original products with their own hands. As, for example, a woman who loves to decorate her garden area with unusual decorative items does this, among which there are spacious pots for flowers and citrus fruits.
Many owners of private houses and summer residents are faced with the need to purchase massive flowerpots for outdoor planting of flowers, shrubs, citrus fruits or a whole garden of columnar fruit trees. For these purposes, high-quality and reliable containers are required that can withstand adverse weather conditions and a significant weight of the earth with the plant itself.
Naturally, such items cost a lot of money, but if you show imagination, allocate time and some funds to purchase materials, you can create them yourself. As Marina Fokina did - a popular blogger and a big fan of experiments. Thanks to her experience, each of us will be able to create decorative pots that will allow you to attach all the plants and decorate your garden plot with original art objects.
Before starting work, you should make sure that all the necessary materials are available, namely:
• cement;
• sand;
• shredded polystyrene;
• reinforcing mesh (not necessary, but safer with it);
• water;
• container for mixing the solution and the necessary tools;
• shape (any basket, bucket, etc. of the desired size and shape).
You should immediately make a reservation that for the convenience of working with the creation and decoration of a flowerpot, it is better to purchase a rotating stand, which will allow you to apply a more uniform layer of material without unnecessary body movements. For these purposes, a stand for decorating cakes is easily suitable. The only thing is that it is better to wrap it with stretch film, and put a circle of the required diameter made of dense material on top (thick plywood, OSB, chipboard, etc.)
Note: Prepare a form in advance, such as a plastic basket. It is qualitatively wrapped with stretch film, fixing it with masking tape so as not to stain the base with cement mortar, which can serve as a form indefinitely.
After that, you can start to dilute the cement mortar. To obtain a strong base, it is better to use the following proportions: 1: 2 (cement + sand). First, 2 volumes of sand are poured into a plastic or metal container, and then cement is added.
Important! The cement for the preparation of the mortar must be dry and fresh, without caked lumps. It is better to use sand of high quality, without impurities (clay, earth, stones, grass, etc.). If such sand could not be found, you should carefully sift the one that is available.
After thoroughly mixing the dry materials, a hole is made, into which water is gradually added. The solution should be thick and viscous. The resulting mass must first be applied to the bottom of the mold with a layer of no more than 0.4-0.5 cm, and then lay a reinforcing mesh cut to size on it, which will significantly secure the structure.
At this stage, one should not forget about creating holes for the drain of excess water. If you do not use a reinforcing mesh, then all that remains is to make depressions in the right places to remove the solution. In the case of a mesh, you can use plastic bottle caps that are inserted into pre-cut holes. Only after that, the bottom is closed with a dense layer of cement-sand mixture, so that the mesh is completely closed.
To make the walls of the pots the same thickness, it is better to apply the solution in strips 5 cm wide, leaving gaps of the same size. After that, a piece of reinforcing mesh should be fixed on the walls and the voids should be filled with a solution, leveling the surface. Recall that the layer thickness should not exceed 0.5 cm.
After the base of the flowerpot is ready, you need to prepare lightweight concrete for decoration in order to reduce the weight of the finished product. For him you will need: 1 part of cement, 1 part of sand + 2 parts of polystyrene (crushed). The solution is mixed in a similar way to the above process. The mixture should be thick and elastic so that you can form pebbles with your hands.
With the distribution of the created "river pebbles", everyone is determined by himself, but it is better to make them of different sizes and shapes in order to bring them as close as possible to the natural material. It should also be borne in mind that the decor should be fixed on a raw base so that the hitch is of better quality and the product looks more natural. At the same time, we must not forget that at the edges of the bottom of the flowerpot, side legs need to be made, forming not very thick "sausages" from the same concrete.
After the entire area of the side walls is filled, you need to remove the covers from the bottom and leave the product to harden in the shade. In dry warm weather, the material will dry out literally in a day, although if it is hot, it is better to cover the flowerpot with polyethylene or a wet cloth.
When the hardening process is over, you can remove the form from the planter and start strengthening and decorating the top layer. To protect concrete from negative environmental influences, it is advisable to cover it with a special compound. Do it yourself from PVA glue (better than construction) - 2 tbsp. l., one glass of water and cement, which is added so much so that a solution resembling liquid sour cream is obtained. Thoroughly cover the planter with this mixture on all sides and allow time to dry.
After that, the product can be sent to a prepared place or even make a little effort and decorate with facade acrylic paint of the color you like. Although several shades will look more impressive at once, which can be applied in a chaotic manner, and then you can cover everything with a more neutral color, exposing the main tone.
At the end of the creative process and after the masterpiece has completely dried, it is better to open all surfaces (and internal ones too) with a transparent acrylic varnish, which will prevent fading and protect the product from water. Now you can plant the plants you like and enjoy the work done.
You can see the whole creative process in more detail and learn some tricks from the video posted by the creative craftswoman on the YouTube channel - Marina Fokina.
This is not the only example of the ingenuity of the creative owners of private houses and summer cottages. On the pages of Novate.ru you can find a lot of inspiring ideas on how to decorate a summer cottage with your own hands without significant investment and loss of time.
Not only original flowerpots or pots can decorate a summer cottage. Even regular tracks able to turn a yard into a work of art if you approach their creation with imagination.