CARMEL VALLEY, CALIF. Plasterer's faux boulders look like real thing

Portable and durable, the rocks have become popular with landscapers.
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
CARMEL VALLEY, Calif. -- In most ways, Bill Ingram's rocks are just like the real thing.
They last forever -- or at least as long as actual stone -- and you can climb them, kick them, jump up and down on them, if you like, without worrying about damage.
But the best thing about them, said the California plastering contractor who makes them, is that they just fade into the background.
And that's exactly what they're meant to do.
"They blend with the rest of the garden," said Ingram, owner of Carmel Plastering. "They don't catch your eye. You accept the fact that it's a rock."
Ingram, whose family has been in the molding and plastering business for six generations has worked in the trade for 30 years himself. About five years ago, he began developing the techniques to make landscape boulders.
"It's just like doing a stucco house. It's the same principle," said Ingram.
He and an assistant started making them in quantity about a year ago, in a field behind the home where he grew up.
Increasingly popular
Placing rocks and boulders in gardens has been increasingly popular in the past two decades, creating focal points and interesting textures for contrast with foliage and flowers. But natural stone poses problems when it gets to the boulder category -- being incredibly heavy --and sometimes, it's not easy to obtain in the proper shapes or quantities.
Some landscapers turn to rocks made of Fiberglas for a lightweight solution, but the material is not as sturdy as real stone.
Ingram's take on the dilemma was to create rocks from stucco, as tough as the real thing and just about as natural-looking.
Construction
A visit to the field shows the "rocks" in various stages of construction. Their skeletons are bent rebar and galvanized metal mesh.
Ingram then plasters the forms with several coats of stucco. Colored mortars are layered over that, and a clear sealer is applied last.
From this manmade conglomeration comes an entirely real-looking rock: boulders of various sizes, which look just like native granite. No two are exactly alike, each bearing its own individual dents and bumps.
"I've studied this area, and I wanted these to look like indigenous rock," said Ingram. "I want it to look like it belongs here."
And like rock, the boulders are guaranteed to last a lifetime.
"They're real durable," said Ingram, kicking a medium-sized boulder for emphasis, making a hollow-sounding "boom."
If somehow the rocks do become damaged, he notes that they're easy to repair.
Portability
But their portability is the faux boulders' real advantage. Costwise, there's not much difference between them, with Ingram's small rocks going for $135, up to the largest ones at $350.
But, as he points out, these don't require a crane or a backhoe to get them into your back yard, saving a considerable amount in the transportation and placement.
Ingram's boulders weigh just a fraction of what real rocks do. The medium-sized fake boulder is about 250 pounds; in granite, it would be a half-ton, easily.
Ingram also points out that many desirable boulders are becoming harder to obtain, due to environmental concerns: "The availability isn't there anymore."
He can also apply the same techniques to a number of landscape features, including retaining walls, ponds and fountains, and can build these features as well as boulders on site.
Ingram's small boulders have turned out to be the ones most in demand -- something that surprised him.
Eventually, Ingram hopes to get out of the house stucco business and devote his entire attention to making rocks and other landscape features.
"It's a lot of fun to do," he said.
XFor more information, call Carmel Plastering at (831) 659-5402.