Creating a stone mosaic (in situ)
This is how we made the stone mosaic in Christine's Khandallah garden. I worked with builders Ed and Carl over a 5-6 hour period to make this mosaic.
1)
Start with a flat base and an edging to contain the wet mortar. We used CorTen steel as permanent garden edging and some temporary plywood edging to be removed later once the mosaic has set.
2)
Add enough mortar depth to allow the pebbles to be bedded into the mix.
3)
Ed and Carl smooth the top surface of the mosaic until it is flat and even. It's just like icing a cake! Once the mortar is in, we were on a timeline to get the pebbles in before it sets.
5)
We put in two rows of white pebbles around the edge careful avoiding touching the wet mortar mix.
6)
Place the flower template in the centre of the circle.
7)
Working as quickly and carefully as possible, fill in all the areas around the template with black pebbles.
8)
Remove the template from the centre.
9)
Fill in the petals with the white pebbles working from the edges to the centre.
Nearly there.
10)
Cover the mosaic with plastic (to protect it from rain) and wait at least 48 hours before walking on it.
11)
