Do-It-Yourself Rhubarb Leaf Stepping Stone

Do-It-Yourself Rhubarb Leaf Stepping Stone AG WORLD 26-6-23 Here's an idea for some interesting concrete stepping stones you can make for walkways or decorating around landscaping or gardens, from Marlyn Cutting-Waddell, Sperling, Manitoba. For supplies, you'll need coarse Redicrete or Sackrete, water, a 2 or 3-gal. bucket for mixing, rubber gloves, wire mesh, some colored chalk-line chalk (if you'd like to tint the stones), and a plastic tarp or drop cloth. You'll also need one good quality rhubarb leaf for every stone you want to make. She says leaves from other plants with heavy veins (like burdock or a large leafed hosta) can be used, too, but she likes rhubarb because they're plentiful and larger than most others. To start, put plastic down on your work surface and then lay out a rhubarb leaf with the veins up. Make sure there are no wrinkles in the plastic and that the leaf lies flat. Next, cut a piece of wire mesh that covers the area of the stone where you'll step. Then mix the concrete with just enough water to make a very dry mix. "The cement mixture should stay in a ball when you squeeze it together," she says. "If the cement slides off the leaf, your mixture is too wet." One bag of concrete mix will make about three stones. "If you are adding chalk to color the stone, mix it in with the water before adding the concrete mix," she says. Once you have the leaf spread the way you want it and the concrete mixed to the right thickness, start applying it by hand to the leaf. She recommends leaving about half an inch of leaf sticking out from under the concrete, so the veins run all the way to the edge of the stone. When you've applied about 1 1/2 in. of concrete to the leaf, press in the mesh and then add more concrete, until the stone is 2 1/2 to 3 in. thick. Once it has the shape you want and is the right thickness, cover it with plastic to keep it from drying too quickly. Cutting-Waddell says she leaves hers two or three days before removing the top plastic. Any leaf material that won't come off the stone can be left to dry up and then brushed away with a paint brush. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Marlyn Cutting-Waddell, Box 1, Sperling, Manitoba, Canada R0G 2M0 (ph 204 626-3391).

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