HypertufaHypertufa crafts can be so much fun to make - here's where you can find out how to make hypertufa, and how to use your craft when you're finished. Hypertufa refers to a mixture of cement powder, peat moss and sand (sometimes other ingredients as well) formed into a mold or built by hand to make planters for alpines, succulent and rockery plants. It’s copied from a type of natural limestone rock called ‘tufa’ which is hard to find and very expensive. Tufa is a limestone rock soft enough to carve with simple hand tools, to make holes to plant special treasures such as Jovibarba, Sempervivum and other rare alpine plants. 
Here are instructions for making hypertufa – it’s like making mud pies! Safety Tips:
Making HypertufaMix one part by volume of each of the following:
Add water to mix to a consistency of peanut butter (plastic and malleable). You can form this by hand to your dimensions, usually no larger than 30cm x 40cm and about 20cm high. Avoid building it any larger than this as it will be too difficult to move without the danger of a hernia, or damage to the pot. Other hypertufa recipes recommend using perlite and fiberglass reinforcing strands, or a small amount of hydrated lime (not dolomite lime), about one cupful for a wheelbarrowful of mix.You can also add a small amount of soaked sawdust or wood shavings. Squeeze out any excess water before adding to the mix. 
How to use HypertufaA form created out of a pile of sand and lined with plastic film can make some fantastic free form planters. These can be quite shallow, as many succulent plants such as Sempervivum and Sedum can survive nicely in small amounts of soil. Remember to make drain holes in the bottom.A more complicated form can be built out of cardboard boxes, nesting a smaller one on a base of hypertufa mix inside a larger one, leaving a gap of about 4-5cm in between to fill with the hypertufa mix. Build this on a concrete floor – a garage or a basement works well – lined with plastic film. Make sure you put a short wooden dowel or two in the base to make drain holes. You can use hypertufa to cover a styrofoam cooler to make some really great, lightweight troughs to plant your hardy succulent plants in. Another fun way to use hypertufa is making rhubarb leaf stepping stones. 
Cover your finished planter with more plastic film to dry slowly, uncovering it for an hour or so a day, until completely uncovering it by the end of a week. It should be cured for a while longer without disturbance - up to three weeks - before filling and planting it. It’s often recommended to spray water mixed with a small amount of vinegar in to rinse the caustic alkaline lime off the surface. I’ve never noticed if this makes any difference, and if you have peat in the mix, this will achieve the same result. Sometimes it takes a few experiments to fine tune the mix, depending on differences in your local ingredients. Make smaller projects first to figure out the best proportions before tackling a huge trough. You can also make ‘rocks’ with this mixture, with holes to plant small succulents into, shallow bowls for moss gardens, and decorative balls studded with shards of broken tile or glass. Care of Your Hypertufa CreationAge your hypertufa with sheep manure mixed with buttermilk to make a slurry to paint on the surface, to encourage lichens and mosses to grow.Most hypertufa will be best stored in a dry place for the winter to prevent frost cracking. Remove soil and plants before storing, and heel the plants in the garden, or if they’re tender succulent plants, take them indoors. If the hypertufa is too heavy to move, simply cover with plastic film to prevent it getting too wet with the winter rain and snow. Make sure it’s on loosely enough so that your plants can survive.
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