Concrete leaf-making among projects at Midsummer Garden and Arts Faire

PALMER — Turning over a new leaf becomes a fun gardening challenge when the leaves are composed of concrete.

With a little elbow grease, some basic garden tools and large, veiny leaves (rhubarb and hosta are good choices), creative gardeners can cast their own fountains, birdbaths, bowls and even soap dishes, said Florene Carney, owner of Snowfire Gardens in Wasilla.

Carney was among a handful of presenters at the annual Palmer Midsummer Garden and Arts Faire, teaching a short — but informative — class on how to create realistic concrete leaves that can be used any number of ways in a garden. On a patch of sunny lawn at the Palmer Museum and Visitors Center, Carney explained the simple process.

“You start with the sand,” she said, adding that it helps if the sand’s a little wet.

She mounds up the sand into a hill on a piece of scrap plywood.

“You just mold it to the shape you want,” she said. And because she’ll later place her leave over the mound to create the bowl of her birdbath, “you need to think backwards. … Just get the feel for what your leaf will do.”

It’s a process familiar to Karen Wichert of Wasilla, who made a point of attending Carney’s demonstration Saturday. Although Wichert has made concrete leaf creations before, she was hoping to pick up some pointers from Carney.

“I did three of (the leaves) to do a three-tiered bird fountain,” she said. But before long, the concrete started to fall apart. “I didn’t put hardening in mine, and was wondering if she used a hardener. I’ve made different planters and things, but the only leave I’ve used is rhubarb, but you can do them in different sizes.”

With just a large leaf, a 40-pound bag of sand, a 40-pound bag of premixed concrete — Carney recommends Sakrete concrete mix, not Quikrete, which sets up too fast — a sheet of plastic, a concrete sealer, paint and water.

After molding her sand, Carney places a piece of plastic over the sand, then the leaf (veiny side up). She mixes up some of her ready-mix concrete — and then comes the fun part.

Using her hands, Carney molds the concrete over the mound of sand, making sure to leave it about 2 inches thick in the middle and getting a little thinner toward the edges. Then she gets a little slap-happy, pounding the concrete with her hands to settle the rocks in the concrete and get the air out of the mixture.

“You want to just keep patting it until it’s smooth and the water comes up,” she says, while those gathered around take notes and take video of the demonstration to watch later.

“I come to the garden fair every year,” Wichert said, partly because of creative activities and like Carney’s demonstration.

Along with the concrete leaf class, garden and arts enthusiasts also enjoyed a demonstration of yarn spinning and displays from the Valley Arts Alliance. Under a tent in the middle of the museum lawn, kids and their parents planted bulbs in hollowed out books donated by the Palmer Library.

After 48 hours to set and dry, Carney said you can turn your concrete leaf out. Painting it can get as creative as you want, she said. One tip she imparted is that if you use water-based paint, you can dilute it and apply to the concrete and let it soak in. That will give a subtle, muted color. Another option is to add color to the concrete itself.

Most important, Carney said, is to practice patience before painting your leaves. That’s because if you don’t wait at least two weeks, you run the risk of trapping moisture in the concrete.

“If you seal the moisture in, it’ll make the concrete flake away,” she said.

Contact Greg Johnson at 352-2269 or

greg.johnson@frontiersman.com.

Materials:

• 1 large leaf (rhubarb works well)

• 1 40-pound bag of sand

• 1 40-pound bag of premixed concrete

• 1 sheet of plastic

• Concrete sealer

• Paint or concrete dye

• Water

• Wheelbarrow or container for mixing

• Hoe

• Shovel

• Scrub brush

• Paint brush

Directions:

• Start by making a dome-shaped pile of sand large enough for your leaf to rest on, plus a couple inches to spare. Cover the same with plastic.

• Place the leaf face-down on the sand. Adjust sand if necessary to make sure the leaf is fully supported.

• Mix the concrete to a consistency of a thick brownie mix. Place some of the concrete on the center of the leaf and begin working it to the outer edge.

• After 48 hours, remove top layer of plastic and turn the cast over and extricate the leaf from the cast. Let stand to cure.

• After the concrete has dried, paint.

Source: Florene Carney