There are several leaf casting concrete recipes out there but one really stood out for me and was posted by fellow Master Gardener, Ann Tice. She recommends using Quikrete Vinyl Concrete Patcher and adding some Concrete Bonding Adhesive also by Quikrete (you don't add much bonding adhesive so it will go a long way) She created a you tube video on how to make leaf castings that you may find helpful:
RECIPE AND INSTRUCTIONS
You can also find Ann's recipe and wonderful instructions at: https://web.extension.illinois.edu/cfiv/downloads/49488.pdf
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July 16, 2014... Below are photos of my first leaf casting. Surprising enough, the first one actually turned out pretty good. My only fail on this is that before applying the concrete to the leaf, I forgot to spray the leaf with a releasing agent (Pam cooking spray) so the leaf stuck to the concrete. I pealed off what little I could, then used a fingernail brush and sand to wear off and break down the leaf. Don't forget to spray the leaf, you will save yourself a lot of work. Also, try not to let the concrete go past the edge of the leaf... that will create more cleanup for you.
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| Wet the sand |
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| Form the wet sand to support your leaf |
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| Put plastic wrap over sand before laying your leaf down for doing final shaping. Keep as much sand as possible off your casting surface. |
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| Starting from the center, spread mix over leaf. To prevent breaking, it should be no less than 1/4" thick along edges. Center of leaf should be 1-1.5" thick for strength. Put wire in back of leaf so you have something to attach with when assembling fountain. |
I'm in central Texas and our temperatures have been at 98-103 degrees. Concrete will dry faster the hotter it is so it is best to do this early in the morning, let it set up a little bit, and then carefully cover with plastic to slow down the evaporation of water that is in the concrete... this should help prevent cracking. I am finding that I can let it harden for about 10 hours (since it is so hot right now) then gently flip the casting to remove the leaf. I also do my clean up on the edges before the concrete gets too hard. It's good to let your leaves rest on the bed of sand while you are working on them... it keeps them level and serves as good support while you are working. So far I have three leaves done... two more should do it. I am using pumpkin leaves... they are the largest leaves I have.
July 17, 2014... This morning Dennis (my husband) found a cedar stump that we think may work for the base of our fountain. I was so excited... I think it will work! We will clean it up and oil it and see how it looks.
Below is a photo of the stump after it has been power washed. I like the reddish tint of the cedar wood.
I am still waiting for the leaves of my pumpkin vine to grow a bit bigger before I can do a few more leaf castings. Then I will stain and seal the leaves and finally start assembling the fountain.
Update: August 8, 2014... Squash bugs killed my pumpkin vine. I am planting new seeds... this project is on hold until the vines produce some nice leaves to use. They grow fast... to be continued :-)
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