How-To For A Fun Garden Art Project

gillnurseryLife in The Garden, Timely Tips6 Comments

Be a garden artist and paint your own fun and colorful garden art!

Supplies:

  • Cement block, single hole, 7 1/2″ square (McCoy’s)
  • Drylock Masonry Waterproofer – color white (McCoy’s)
  • FolkArt Acrylic Paint, 2 oz. size, your favorite colors (Hobby Lobby)
  • Inexpensive nylon paint brushes various widths (Hobby Lobby)
  • Water in a container to clean brushes
  • Krylon Matte Finish Clear Spray (Hobby Lobby)

blocks-2How To:

  • Very thoroughly mix water proofer. Apply two coats over the entire block. Allow to dry between coats.
  • Draw your design onto block with a pencil and fill in with paint or go freehand.
  • Spray two coats of Krylon spray over entire block. Allow to dry between coats.

Fun options for your blocks:

  • Plant herbs or small flowering plants in the hole
  • Use singly or stack for plant stands
  • Stack for garden bench legs or table base or birdbath stand

Please share your own garden art block creations on our Facebook page!

merlien-Merlien

6 Comments on “How-To For A Fun Garden Art Project”

  1. This is so very cute! I have been spray painting the standard (2 cubbies) blocks and using them for succulents. I read an article that said not to use these blocks for edibles because the chemicals can leach into the soil. Have you heard anything about that?

  2. Deborah, local cinderblock may or may not contain fly ash, which is mostly genenerated by coal plants further north. But once incorporated and cured into a portland cement/aggregate mix, the small amount of contaminants are not readily water soluble. I think the hazard would be if you grind up a cinderblock really small and eat it with a spoon, or more likely, if you drop it on your toe!

    1. Thank you, James. I saw many similar projects on Pinterest and then all these warnings started showing up. I shall endeavor to avoid either eating crushed cinderblocks or dropping on my toes…OUCH! Have a great day!

  3. Deborah, I checked with McCoys, they gave me the phone# of their cinderblock supplier, out of Houston, and I called him. He said they do not use fly ash in their product unless the architect on a large project specs it in the job, and they get the contract to custom build that block. Addition of small proportions of fly ash can boost the water resistance and even ultimate strength of concrete, so in some applications, fly ash improves concrete performance.

  4. Deborah, an interesting aside, the head buyer for concrete products for the whole McCoys Lumber chain, with stores throughout Texas and the 4 adjacent states, worked right here at Gill Landscape Nursery back in the ’80s. It was his first job out of high school, and the local McCoys hired him away from us. I guess we started him out right, they have kept him and promoted him for 30 some odd years. When I called the home office and was transferred to the Head of Purchasing for concrete products, he said “Hey James, this is Greg Gomez, remember me?” And I did, he was a great employee with lots of promise. Which got me to wondering, how far has the diaspora of former Gill’s employees spread over the world? And are they all doing well, or did we produce any axe murderers?

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