This has been one of many project done over the last couple of months . Plenty of Winter digging and root pruning has been completed and all the material is safely back into the grow beds , I took some time out from digging and re-potting to construct some new landscape mediums , good rocks are as rare as hens teeth around here and usually weigh far to much for this old bloke to man handle . The off cuts of poly marble will become the tray on which the rocks will begin their new life as a living work of art or PenjingThese were constructed from left over auto-claved concrete panel offcuts , a weight saving of close to 80% . The task at hand is to try to make them as natural as possible , no easy feat for an amateur but worth the effort at the end of the project . Custom made to suit my requirements as most things are around here . Using a cement based tile glue to adhere the pieces together for the basic base on which to build the rock on . With the pieces glued together and allowed to dry they are them waterproofed before the first acrylic render coat is applied beginning the process of numerous  coats of cement render with another waterproofing agent added . This finish is the base coat from which i build several coated renders over and over to build the texture on which the coloured renders are applied . It is time consuming but again worth the effort as they are custom made for the purpose required . Once this colouring process is started there’s no turning back or slacking off as the waterproofing /hardening agent has a relatively short working time . Creating 5 rocks or multiple rocks is well worth the effort as 1 item begins to harden the next rock can be worked on . There is no time for a meal break as once set , the colours cant be blended and its back to the start . As each surface  dries  another water proofing agent is applied which does aid the colour blending , however I’m working with 3mm and 5mm brushes so speed is essential . . With all the rock coloured they will be set aside to completely cure and you guessed it more water proofing will be applied , after which the will be weathered for about 2-3 weeks depending on the climate conditions . They are then soaked in water to dispel any lime from the mortars and dried out . In a matter of 4 weeks from start to finish and around 40 – 50 hours work the will be ready for the landscapes /Penjing to be put together . In the meantime the trays will be carved out of Poly Marble to suit each individual or set of rocks . Hope you enjoyed this topic as much as i did in the construction of  it .

 

Cheers Alpineart

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