Concrete/Tufa as bonsai material

JLK

Has anyone tried making there own slabs for forest planting out of reinforced concrete or a concrete/fibergalss/tufa mixture?
Would it hurt the plants (concrete?).

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bonsaial1

There are numerous articles out there for making slabs out of concrete. Colin Lewis' new book, The Art of Bonsai Design has an article on how to make a slab. He says to use cement with a high alumina content. This stuff dries faster too. He says that if you make it in the fall and let it sit out all winter in the rain and weather, it will be ready for spring planting. There have been articles in Bonsai Today on a "concrete fondue". Maybe Matt has acess to the article through GSBF. I wouldn't use tufa though, the lime will leach out and could be lethal. I would use pumice or something more inert.

I plan to make a slab myself, for an elm grove that I want to replant this spring. I will post some pics in a series on how I made it. The hardest part to me is carving the stiff concrete to look like stone and still look natural. It can look real ametureish real fast unless your good, and I don't know if I'm that good. I'm no Michaelangelo. Regards, Bonsaial

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A tree a day...thats all we ask.

Bonsainut

Jlk,
Our local Ho non bo club( Vietnamese Style) makes huge shollow pots for their displays. They make plywood forms in several pieces. Then put a layer of chicken wire in and around. They use morter with an acrylic admixture for strength. Add stucco brown stains. All home depot type items.
The trick is to get the wire to stay in the thing. You should make it about a half inch thick. Any stubborn wire pieces can be cut off later. Leave it in the form for a few days to get some extra strength. Any boo boos on the underside you can patch with the same material.
It takes several week to gain full strength so go easy. When fully cured The guys use minwax type wood stain to really give it a nice dark browness. You will have to do this peridically to spruce it up.
They make up to 5 foot ovals and do fantastic penjing type scenes!
Just think what a 5 footer from Japan would cost or even from China!!

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Keep growing,---'Nut



Lethal Use of Farce

Bonsainut

P.s.
Lit phan is a friend of mine. He's a real cool man who does amazing Bonsai. He is from Vietnam and calls his art Ho Non Bo. Check out his book if your are interested in more of this!http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0881925152/inktomi-bkasin-20/103-4617814-6412665

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Keep growing,---'Nut



Lethal Use of Farce

JLK

"There have been articles in Bonsai Today on a "concrete fondue." Maybe Matt has access to the article through GSBF."

Does anyone out there have copies of the articles or know where I could find reprints?
Thanks

TreeBay

I'll have to root around and see if I can find the dates of the GSBF/Bonsai today articles. In the meantime, here is a link to an artificial container project at the Rosade Bonsai Studio.

I believe the casting resin is actually called "Ciment Fondue" that is not a typo.

Regards,

Matt

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JLK

Hey Guys,
That stuff on Rosade is pretty cool but the classes are in TEXAS! I haven't had time to make it to the local WalMarts in two months! Does any one know if there are any East Coast classes? I wonder if Rosade has thought of doing it as a class on the web? Requires some planning and software but my medical society does it all the time and it's really great - Continuing Education from home and in the evening!
Thanks.
PS Hey Bonsaial1 - isn't tufa just peat moss?

bonsaial1

NO!!! Actually tufa is pure limestone. Very crumbly, but can be harder. It is usaully quarried around mineral hot springs. The funnel on Old Faithfull in Yellowstone park is pure tufa, and is protected by law. They will get you good if you pick up a piece, sorta like petrified wood in that park. Depending on where the spring is, I guess peat could be trapped in it, ive seen vegatation in tufa before. I have used tufa with much success in My coral reef aquarium as dead rock and let it get "live" due to association with the live rock. Again due to the high calcium content it works well. On the coral reef tufa is known as arroganite. This is coral skeleton laid down for centurys and builds layer after layer on the coral reef. Sometimes hundreds of feet thick. On some coastal areas it is mined crushed and used in concrete as rock. Obviosly near coral reef areas in the tropics. Thats my geology lesson for the day, Good luck, Bonsaial

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A tree a day...thats all we ask.

TreeBay

Some more research on the fondue/bonsai project gave these results

Tony Cronkhite April 2000 workshop
http://www.geocities.com/qc_bonsai/...es/tc_slab.html

Colin Lewis Website
http://www.btinternet.com/~colinlew...dio/Cement.html

Forest planting on artificial slab
http://www.bonsaiinformation.co.uk/forest.htm

Harry Tomlinson false cypress on false slab
http://www.thebonsaiguide.com/BPG/BS_A0008.HTM

Material Data Sheet for
Lafarge Ciment Fondu
http://www.lcainc.com/pdsheet/cflref.pdf

How to make rocks
http://pages.prodigy.net/airs/rocks/making.htm

more rockmaking links
http://www.flash.net/~blhill/pages....nd/recipes.html

An entirely unrelated article on Stone lantern construction:
http://www.actionvideo.freeserve.co.uk/lanterns.htm

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