Follow Graham's five easy steps and you'll have a contemporary, stone-look trough for a fraction of the price you'll pay at nurseries. The amounts are enough to make one rectangular garden trough or a 40cm bowl.

You'll need:
10 litres peat moss or coir peat (also called palm peat or coconut peat)
5kg builders' cement
5kg coarse river sand
Water
Styrofoam grocery box or plastic bowl (to use as a mould)
Round dowel (to make drainage holes)

Here's how:
Step 1
Put all the ingredients into a wheelbarrow and mix thoroughly.

Step 2
Add enough water to make a thick paste. How much you add depends on how moist the peat moss is. Add the water gradually, small amounts at a time, mixing it in well before adding more. When you're finished, the mix should have a firm consistency which holds its shape when pressed into a mould.

Step 3
Wearing thick rubber gloves, spread the mixture over the mould's base. Press it into the corners and work it up the sides. Build the trough to an even thickness of 5cm. Use your hands to smooth it out for a rustic look, or use a knife for a smoother edge.

Tip: when using a plastic bowl as a mould, line it with lengths of wet plastic film (like Cling Wrap) before pouring in the mixture.

Step 4
When you've finished spreading the mixture, and while it's still wet, make some drainage holes in the base of the container by inserting small pieces of round dowel. Leave the trough to set slowly in a dry place for about two weeks.

Step 5
Unmould your work by tearing off the foam to reveal the finished trough. If you've used a plastic pot for a mould, turn the pot upside down on some grass, so there's no risk of it breaking, and gently ease off the mould.

Planting ideas:
Shallow bowls: plant annuals and bulbs.
Troughs: suitable for small shrubs such as box, hebe or dwarf escallonia, mixed succulents and alpine plants.

Tips

• Always use a quality, free-draining potting mix and add a good sprinkling of controlled-release fertiliser at planting time.
• Give flowering plants a top-up feed with a soluble fertiliser, such as Thrive or Phostrogen, from time to time to improve their flower display.

Source: bhg.com.au