How to Mix Concrete for Garden Ornaments

Who doesn’t love a beautifully decorated garden? Whether it’s a garden gnome or Roman statue sitting in your garden, these garden ornaments, along with gorgeous flowers and foliage, creates a magical vibe.

It can be your best escape from the bustling life, and you can have it too. You can get yourself an attractive garden like this without buying the decorations from the store. Why not make your version of garden ornaments?

Sounds exciting, right?

Go through the following to successfully create your garden ornaments.

Tools and Materials

Besides gravel, sand, and cement, there are specific equipment and materials you’ll need to get started with your concrete mixture for the garden ornaments. They are:

Molds

Molds are one of the most essential parts of your concrete project. You get to choose your design from several options like gnomes, birdbaths, statues, or even benches. If you’re new to it, it’s always best to start experimenting with the smaller molds.

Because the more giant molds are comparatively expensive and difficult to work with, for the best outcomes, you’re recommended to use molds with a fiberglass case supplied.

Cement mixer

To save yourself the physical toil, you can get yourself a cement mixer. This will not only save you the hard work, but it will also save you time. Buy a new one if you want flawless work efficiency. However, you can always go for a second-hand cement mixer.

Avoid mixing in a wheelbarrow as this will only increase your labor, prolong the duration, and you might even end up with an uneven concrete mixture.

Vibrating table

Air bubbles are the worst enemy to your concrete mixer. To eradicate the air bubble and ensure an even surface, a vibrating table is a perfect choice. The vibrating table will vibrate and ensure that there are no air bubbles in the mixture. You’ll be left with a smooth and polished finished ornament. Because if your finished ornament has air pockets in it, the quality will be poor and might not even last long.

Ballast

The mixture of stone and sand is known as ballast. This mixture is added to the cement to create concrete. When the ballast is mixed with the cement, this produces much stronger concrete. This is one of the easiest concrete-making methods. Go for the 10mm ballast mix for the best outcome.

Cement

Combine the cement with the ballast to produce concrete. There are several shades of grey in cement. Go for the standard cement to avoid any unnecessary hassle. But make sure you use the same cement throughout the whole project since different brands have different characteristics and colors. Also, make sure you keep the cement away from any moisture and damp places.

Shovel

The shovel will make your work more manageable when loading the cement mixer with the cement and ballast. Besides, it’ll be a helpful tool while you clean the working area.

Jug

To pour your concrete mix into the mold, you’ll need the help of a jug. Make sure you go for a heavy-duty jug to scoop your concrete mixture, as it can be pretty heavy for fragile jugs.

Rasp

You’ll need a heavy-duty file or a rasp to smoothen the ornament’s base when removed from the mold.

Trowel

To level your concrete upon filling the mold, you’ll need a small trowel.

Water

You’ll need water to mix your ballast and cement properly. Also, the water will help you with cleaning your work area and tools.

Best Concrete MIX for Garden Ornaments

There’s no specific answer to this as the opinion varies. You’ll get different answers and advice from other people.

Before you follow a certain ratio, keep in mind that you need to ensure the right amount of water in the mixture. Because too little or too much water can affect the mixture’s consistency. Wrong consistency can either make the mixture unworkable or yield cracks. Again too runny a mixture will take too long to set, and the too thick mixture will create tons of air bubbles.

Your main ingredients for the mixture are cement, gravel, and sharp sand. You need to be careful while you mix all these. The gravel plays a significant role here as it’ll set and harden the cast.

Next comes the crucial part. As the gravel is a lot chunkier than the sand / dust, you have to be careful while you mix these. Because if the chunk’s amount is immoderate, your mold won’t give the correct shape to your concrete ornament.

The key to the perfect mixture is the balance of the ingredients. A balanced consistency of the gravel, sand, and cement will be easy to pour into the mold and bring an excellent outcome reaching all the detailed surface area.

So, how do you know that the mixture’s consistency is right?

Trowel test.

Once you’re done with the concrete mixture, draw a line with a trowel into it. Notice how long it takes for the trowel to disappear. If it fades right away, there’s too much water in it. The line will slowly disappear for the balanced mixture, but the edges that your trowel created should be more like a custard consistency – creamy and pourable.

The Right Ratio

Now, let’s talk about the most crucial part—the ratio of the ingredients.

Again, there are different opinions out there about the ratio. But, here we’ll discuss the most reliable and easy one.

The 3:1 mix.
So what is this 3:1?

The ratio 3:1 simply means the amount of your ballast and cement in the concrete mixture. In other words, combine 3 parts of the ballast and 1 part of the cement to create your concrete.

The quantity of the mixture will depend on the size and number of your mold. It’s best practice to fill 1 or 2 molds at once.

Once you’ve seen successful results and are confident about your mixture, you can go for big batches using the same 3:1 ratio.

Concrete Mixing Procedure

Once you’re done deciding the quantity of mixture you want, the first thing you need to do is mix the dry ingredients.

When you’ve mixed all the dry ingredients thoroughly, it’s time to add water little by little. Keep in mind that you want proper consistency. Hence adding too much water at one go is not encouraged. Gradually reach the right consistency and keep doing the trowel test.

One more thing that you need to be careful about is mixing procedures. If you combine the ingredients too harshly, you’ll undoubtedly end up with air bubbles in the mixture. To avoid any air bubble-related problem, start slowly and keep the mixing process gentle.

Conclusion

That’s pretty much everything you need to know before creating your garden ornament. Now, go ahead and give your garden a makeover.