You must love your dog! This is a big project. You might try using the cardboard tube (painted on the inside) around the wood posts. Fill from the top using a mix with sifted peatmoss and much more sand than you are planning plus strengthening fibers. The grooves could be formed by half round wooden pieces fastened to the inside of the tube. The grooves could also be scraped into the column with a round nosed chisel and an indexing fixture of some sort. It would be much easier to build up the columns in two foot sections, adding one tube on top of the previous one. Caution!! Always think about how to remove the tube form without damage. The cardboard tube probably will have to be cut into three pieces lengthwise so it can be removed. Also be careful when adding the top of the arbor. You will need to keep out water from the inside of the tufa coating or freezing will ruin the columns.

Deb, Thanks for your reply. I think I'm in the process of talking myself out of hypertufa slabs and am now moving more toward the concrete route you suggested. It's occurred to me that I can(hopefully)dig a slab-shaped depression right into a flat area of ground near my shed, pack and sculpt the sides to give it an irregular stone slab look, then simply pour a concrete mixture directly into this cavity. I might even toss in a length or two of rebar. Once this slab sets up, I SHOULD be able to dig it up and dress the surface with a stiff brush and a hose. I did a small (cobblestone-sized) test batch last night. The recipe I used was one part cement, two parts coarse sand, one part washed brownish pebbles (about jellybean-sized) and one part georgia clay. The mixture was brown and... interesting. I'll dig it up this evening, gently scrub and hose it, and see what I have.

Ooops! I fogot one thing....Thank you, Louisiana Greetings, for the link to your tufa leaf photo. It's gorgeous! I'd love to know what you chose to color the leaf, as it seems to have stayed very vivid and rich. If that's off-topic to this thread, feel free to email me directly! Perhaps if I had access to something that large, the overall scale of the intentional 'defects'created by tufa recipes wouldn't seem so overwhelming to me? The hosta leaf I cast was only about 10" long, and maybe 5" or so wide, so every pit seemed ENORMOUS! LOL! Happy Tufa-ing! - Lisa

fireweed22: Many, who grow figs in containers/pots will get figs off their plants. Obviously something is going wrong with your culture. Your varieties all have the potential to give you ripened figs in your climate zone. You don't mention: Pot sizes Growing medium Pinching techniques to ripen figs earlier Breba figs? If your pots are too small, the roots may be restricted. Your plants should be in a minimum of no less than 5-gallons of growing medium....a quick-draining medium, like a 5:1:1. This forum is loaded with postings that have various growing mix recommendations. Figs need at least 70-120 days of good sun and heat to ripen main-crop figs. In your climate zone, pinch off all breba figs, and allow only main crop figs to develop. If growth is very vigorous, pinch back all new green stems and leave 5-8 leaves on each branchlet that has main-crop figs growing. This will divert energy into ripening those figs sooner in the season. You don't mention if you allow your trees to first go dormant before bring them into your sun-room, so now I'm just guessing. If you have a warm Sun-room, if you can, bring those potted figs out of dormancy in March, and let them grow, in full sun, until temps outside can support the new growth without doing damage to soft tissue. You can even bring them outside on warm days, and bring them back into a warm room at night. Many growers do this "fig shuffle" in short-season areas. This "stretches" the growing season, and gives you more time to ripen figs. If possible, try sinking your figs halfway into the garden soil, and heavily mulch up the sides of the pot. Plant them in full sun, and let the roots run free into the surrounding soil....but beware!...roots growing from drainage holes under the pot will be difficult to cut when you have to lift the pots for Winter storage. If drainage holes are at the bottom-SIDES of a container, run a spade down the sides, in August, to sever the roots for easier lifting in late-September. Don't over-fertilize with high-nitrogen formulas, and stop fertilizing by mid-July at the latest. Also top dress the growing medium with a good handful of granulated limestone to counteract the acidic conditions that chemical fertilizers can cause in potting mediums. Figs hate soggy conditions, so try not to over-water. If you use a quick-draining mix it will be virtually impossible to over water. You also need to do something to stop the Spider-Mite infestations. Plants weakened by insects, etc. will be slow to push fruit. Once growing conditions are corrected, and good culture takes over, you will get to eat properly ripened figs, even in Zone-6. I have been growing in containers since 2007, and get figs each year. Most of my fig trees are planted into 18-gallon storage tubs that I purchase at Home Depot. I convert them by drilling 3/4" holes along the bottom-sides....never into the bottom surface. They are filled with modified, 5:1:1 mix and I use a granular limestone as a top dressing 2X per season. I use "Espoma, Iron-Tone" (organic fertilizer) and supplement with a dilute - (1 tbs/5-gallons of water) - "Miracle-Gro 24-8-16" tonic, 2X per month, until mid-July. The Espoma, Iron-Tone will continue to release small amounts of residual food until trees go dormant, sometime in mid-October. I also pinch back all branches growing figs, but keep 6-8 leaves. I keep doing this pinching if necessary. Roots like to be kept cool...a difficult thing to do when trees are grown in containers....that's why I suggested sinking your containers and mulching if possible. Don't give up on trying to grow figs. Some years are good, some are great, and some are terrible, like this year. Hope this will help you. Good luck. Frank