How to Make a Stone Resin Bird Bath

Birdbaths are classic garden accessories and essential tools for attracting birds to your backyard. While many styles are commercially available, a natural rock birdbath lends an appealingly rustic look. Unfortunately, rock is heavy, expensive and often difficult to find in the proper shape.

Stone resin or fake rock birdbaths, like those made of hypertufa, are convenient substitutes. Hypertufa is an inexpensive mix of natural material and concrete that is both lightweight and durable and its mottled texture convincingly resembles natural limestone. Hypertufa birdbaths are easy to make and just as attractive as natural stone and the birds won't be able to tell the difference.

Things You'll Need

  • Quikrete fast-drying cement
  • Long-grain (unmilled) sphagnum moss
  • Vermiculite
  • Large bucket
  • Paint stirrer or disposable wooden spoon
  • Clear plastic birdbath mold, such a shallow tray, bowl or old storage box
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Instructions

    • 1

      Make the hypertufa. Combine equal parts Quikrete, sphagnum moss and vermiculite (enough to cover the outside of your mold) in the large bucket, then add enough water to make a liquid with the consistence of thick pancake batter. Stir thoroughly.

    • 2

      Spread a thick layer of hypertufa on the outside of the birdbath mold.

    • 3

      Quickly invert the mold and cover the bottom with hypertufa.

    • 4

      Let the hypertufa dry for several hours.

    • 5

      Make a new, small batch of hypertufa to patch any exposed areas of the plastic mold. Turn the mold right side up and dab hypertufa on the lip of the mold to hide it completely.

    • 6

      Allow the birdbath to dry completely over several days.

    • 7

      Place the birdbath in an area of your backyard with trees and shrubbery to provide cover for birds.