bonsaiTALK 2006 Article Contest

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A Hobbit Trayscape
by Treebeard - 1st Place
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The base.

I had three choices for a base. The first one was a sand, cement and wire construction. I have made these before, so I knew I could make one if I needed to. The only real problem for me with this type of base is the finishing. I've found it can be very difficult to achieve anything that doesn't look like painted cement.

The second option was for a slate slab, either completely natural or carved to suit. I have carved slate slabs before, using various hand and power tools, but this process can be quite lengthy. A natural, uncarved slab would have been a good option but for the thickness problem. I wanted quite a thin base and big slate slabs are usually quite thick.

figure 2

figure 3
The third option was a specially built pottery slab. I have always admired the pots made by Walsall Studio Ceramics, so they were my first choice for making the slab. I contacted them to see if it was something they would be able and willing to do, and the answer was ‘no problem’. I gave them size, shape and colour details over the phone and also emailed a drawing (figure 2). When I collected the slab I was very pleased with the result. Mark Jones had made me a perfect foundation to build the rest of my project on. Figure 3 shows the final product, a flat, oval slab with some texture around the edges.

The brickwork.

The first step was to manufacture some miniature bricks. I tried making a series of miniature brick-shaped cuts into the side of a normal brick and chipping the segments off, but the results were not really satisfactory. In the end I cut some slices off a half-inch thick red clay roof tile. The resulting bricks looked good but the corners were too sharp for my liking so I tumbled them in a homemade lapidary tumbler to round them off a little. After about 20 minutes the bricks were nicely rounded and ready for use.

Quick-drying sand and cement was used to bond the bricks together. Any of the large DIY stores will carry this item, it is normally used for making emergency repairs to brickwork and concrete. It dries in about 30 minutes, but can take longer in extremely cold conditions.

figure 4

I find it useful when making things like this to fix them onto a plastic mesh backing. The mesh binds everything together, and means that the finished item is quite sturdy and able to withstand a lot of handling. Figure 4 shows the materials used to make the door frame: miniature bricks, plastic mesh and a plastic former. I made the former on my lathe, to give me something to build the doorframe around. As I planned to add a window and some brick walling later on I cut a large rectangle of mesh so that it would all fit onto one piece. A plastic sheet underneath stops the construction sticking to the table.

figure 5

figure 6

The bricks were cemented around the plastic former, with care taken to ensure they were reasonably well spaced and level with the top of the former. I found it was easier to position the bricks after I placed strips of wood underneath the outer edges (figure 5). After about half an hour the cement had hardened enough to allow me to remove the wooden strips and plastic former. The window was done in the same way, but without the need for the wooden strips (figure 6).

figure 7

figure 8

After the door and window frames had hardened, the front wall was built onto the mesh. This operation was quite fiddly, the bricks were positioned with tweezers and the cement applied with a flat wooden stick. Because this operation was done during a freezing spell of weather the cement didn't go off as quick as I'd have liked, which caused problems because as each new brick was positioned it would quite often move the ones next to it (figure 7). After a couple of hours I had it finished (figure 8), and it was left alone for a couple of days to harden off.

Ideally I like to leave cemented items for a week or more before using them in a planting. Quick-dry cement dries out relatively quickly, within half an hour in the right weather, but still takes weeks to cure thoroughly. After being left for a week or two I like to put them in a bucket of water for another week, to help remove any harmful chemicals that may be present in the cement.
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