Rick - I see no damage in any of the quickwall items that were left outdoors. I just had a few that were supposed to hold water and 3 of those I purposely left out full of water so they would go thru the freeze/thaw cycles our winter offers. (gets down to -10 for a few days most winters but can also race up to 50 a lot of days) . They all did fine - still hold water all summer. My surprise is that they hold water at all. Why in the world would a thin walled quickwall ball hold water? I don't have much experience with any of this but the same ball made from concrete and mesh seems to leak like a sieve but the quickwall ball that is open to the weather has to be emptied after rains - I have left the water in it for weeks and it never leaves - it seems very waterproof to me. Life has so many mysteries. Laura

This is such a wonderful idea, but please do some major homework. Think safety first. These walls will need some sort of foundation and reinforcement. Because of the size, it will be expensive (at least to this retired school teacher budget) and a lot of work. To veneer concrete block with hypertufa might be an option. But there are practical considerations such as expansion joints and simply manhandling all that heavy material. Hypertufa is relatively light, but that word relative covers the earth when it's my back or yours. (Like that old joke: minor surgery = anthing done to you and major surgery = anything done to me.) Spend some time looking at this entire site and you'll find lots of information and many links. I envy you your imaginative design and encourage you to follow up and do it. But consider carefully the physical effort, financial investment, the learning curve and time to carefully plan a beautiful and safe project. You don't want a large, permanent, heavy mess in the yard. Most of us can only dream on this scale and we'd all be delighted to see this project come to fruition. Get a camera a document your progress and keep us posted! David

If you want to reuse the mold, take a little extra time a make it out of plywood. Cut 1/2 plywood to size and then cut a 1x2 board and screw along the edges of each board and then can use longer exterior screws to assemble and unassemble. It will last forever and it is easy to make. Use 2" builders Styrofoam insulation (4x8 or if you can find 2x8) for the inside of the mold. Cut with sharp serrated knife. Sorry I have no pictures of the wooden molds but I if you check out the post called "A Sedum for all Seasons" you will see the large Hypertufa container that I made. Avoid kitty litter - if will break down over time and may absorb water , and it NOT light weight. Use perlite - it is very light and you can buy large 3 cubic ft bag at a nursery garden center for a reasonable price. I use reinforcing fibers found at a concrete supply store to help hold together better. Mike Here is a link that might be useful: Garden Design Ideas

Great idea! It will be priceless!