Get creative with concrete bags in the garden
If you’ve ever forgotten an unused bag of premixed concrete outdoors for several days or even weeks, you may already know how quickly it can soak up moisture and harden. What if you could put that tendency to use in a few clever and easy-to-create garden projects? Turns out, you can. All you need to do is set a bag of premixed, ready-to-use concrete in place and wet it down. It will harden in a matter of days. Scroll down to see three easy projects we made from concrete bags.
Tips from the concrete pros
Whatever your project, here are some tips from the folks at QUIKRETE® for
success using premixed, ready-to-use concrete bags.
- Use mix in biodegradable bags, not the kind with a plastic lining.
- Poke holes in the top of the bag for better saturation when wetting
the concrete.
- Keep the bags wet by misting or covering with plastic for four days to cure before removing the paper.
- Check temperatures before doing your project — do not let the wet bags freeze (below 32 degrees F), or the concrete may crack.
- Remove the paper by peeling, pressure washing or burning it off carefully with a torch. Or leave it to degrade on its own.
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Create a raised bed with concrete bags
A raised bed wall is as easy as stacking bags on top of each other and
wetting them down. To make a raised bed like the one above, start by choosing which product you’d like to use — bags of pre-mixed, ready-to-use cement/
sand blend, such as QUIKRETE® Sand Mix #1103, come in different sizes and weights. Once you know the bag size, measure the outline of the bed and calculate the number of bags you’ll need. Each block will be the same size as the bag the material comes in.
Tips for building a concrete bag raised bed
Lay out the first row, water it thoroughly, then lay out the second row, staggering each bag over the seams of the previous row and patting them flat (in case the material inside the bag has shifted to one side or another) to fit together more snugly.
For a raised bed less than 2 feet tall, you can simply stack the bags, with no need for reinforcement, though that will make the wall more secure. Walls taller than 2 feet need reinforcement, and since this one was 3 feet tall, it has ½-inch rebar driven through all the layers and into the ground about 8 inches deep. This is easier to do while the material is dry, but also can be done quickly after wetting but before the concrete sets.
Before filling the bed with soil, let the concrete cure for four days by covering it with plastic or wetting it periodically. Once the concrete is cured, you can remove the paper or let it fade naturally as the season goes on. It will eventually deteriorate.
DIY Butterfly puddler
A single bag of premixed concrete is all you need to make the butterfly feeding and watering station in the photo above. Set it in place in the garden and tape the edges of the bag with packing tape to help the bag hold its shape. Cut open the bag face from corner to corner with a box cutter, and peel back the paper, leaving an open rectangle so you can press indentations into the exposed dry concrete mix with a pair of bowls. With the bowls in position to keep the shape, use the mister hose nozzle setting to saturate the mix until it looks like water will seep out if you add more. Twist and loosen the bowls to ensure they won’t stick. After the concrete has cured for four days, peel the bag off.
To fill your butterfly puddler, put a mix of half sand, half compost in one indentation and dampen it for butterflies to get moisture and minerals. Place food sources like overripe bananas or oranges in the other indentation.
See more project details
To find more specific how-to steps for this butterfly puddler made out of a concrete bag, read the full article here!
Create a bench from a concrete bag
On a sheet of plastic, wet a single bag of premixed concrete and let it cure, peel off the paper bag remnants, then simply set it atop two solid concrete blocks to make a rustic bench as in the photo above. It will weather into a natural-looking spot to sit and contemplate your next concrete bag project.
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