Rock-hard but surprisingly simple to create, concrete accents add personality to your outdoor space. Even better, this hard stuff is affordable and prettier than you’d ever imagine. Use our design advice for shaping, staining, and sealing concrete decor to make stunning garden focal points.
1. Garden Globe Glamour
Concrete spheres offer timeless elegance in any garden setting. To make them, cast each half-sphere separately in 10-, 12-, or 15-inch-diameter forms. Set the halves together with mortar to form a complete ball. Add a dash of outdoor acrylic paint for a faux-moss effect that gets more realistic as it naturally weathers.
2. Edging with Attitude
Add style to your flower beds and prevent soil from spilling out with concrete edging. It’s weather-resistant and prevents encroaching grass and weeds from growing over. Begin with a store-bought mold and bag of fiber-reinforced concrete. Mix in your own colors using tinting agents for a personal touch.
3. Naturally Stepping
Leaf-shaped stepping stones are a beautiful, functional way of leading visitors through the garden. Ours were made from giant rhubarb leaves, and the entire project took only a few hours and under $20.
Step 1:
Plan a staggered path depending on your step. Dig shallow holes 3 inches deep for every stone.
Step 2:
Cover holes with 1 inch of pea gravel and top with ½ inch of coarse sand for drainage.
Step 3:
Add quick-set concrete slowly, half a bag at a time. It will begin to set in as little as 15 minutes.
Step 4:
Stir concrete with a hand trowel until it reaches a thick, peanut butter consistency.
Step 5:
Fill each hole evenly, smoothing the top. Use your hands to sculpt the surface into a leaf shape.
Step 6:
Place a rhubarb leaf vein-side down onto the concrete. Press firmly to leave a detailed imprint, then lift.
Step 7:
Use a wooden skewer to deepen the leaf’s vein markings for added texture if desired.
Step 8:
Cover the stone with damp burlap. Keep it moist for a week to ensure a strong cure.
4. Hypertufa Bowl Planters
Reuse empty plastic storage containers by making light hypertufa pots—perfect for herbs and succulents.
5. Molded Magic
Use two plastic containers of slightly different sizes that nest inside one another to make plain concrete pots. Remember to include a drainage hole with a cork before the concrete sets.
6. Backyard Bird Basin
Make a basic birdbath by forming a basin merely in your flowerbed. Excavate a 15-inch-wide, 3-inch-deep pit within the ground. Fill with the concrete, then compact recycled glass pieces within the wet surface for a shining finish. Birds will love the splash zone!
