1. Cut the cardboard tubes into bullrush shapes by cutting triangle shapes out of the top, Dave used a tenon saw.  This made a lot of card dust.  

Ask your local carpet shop, they should be free as it's just waste for them.

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2. The triangle shaped cut offs were screwed onto the body of the tube to make leaves.

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3. Now would be a good point to treat with flame guard / fire retardant.

Get an army of children to paint them green, as long as more green goes on the rushes than the kids you're winning.

 

(You might need a long handled brush to get inside them.)

 

4. For the seed heads you need to make giant cylinders to fill out the sandbags.

(We bought our sand bags from build base, but any builders merchants will see you right.) They're about 50p each.

 

5. Cut discs of Proplex, about 16cm in diameter.  You need four for each bullrush seed head.

 

6. Glue the disks together, cross grain.  (The Proflex flexes!)  And make holes in the centres of the discs.

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7. Make cylinders from rectangles of proflex, 52cm x 70 ish centimetres * (a bit shorter than the length of sandbag)

 

 

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Make sure the grain goes down the rectangle the right way.  Otherwise it won't roll.

 

8. Stitch the sand bags at the top to tuck in the corners so it looks more circular and less 'baggy'.  If you're fastidious you can iron out the crease from the bag. (Worth doing if you can be bothered).  Remove the tie string, and make a small cut in the bottom seam of the bag to feed the cane through later.

 

9. Build cylinders out of your discs and rectangles.  I found it easiest to roll the cylinder up and get it creased and circular, tape it in place and then glue gun the circular discs in place.  (The  discs can be an inch or so inside the cylinder they don't need to be at the end.)  

 

10. Apply liberal amounts of gaffer tape and glue until they conform to your command.

 

11. Threading the Bullrushes - Slide the Proplex cylinder onto the garden cane, you may need to make the holes in the discs bigger to achieve this.  Slide it down the cane until it's at a pleasing position. (Start at the narrow end of the cane)

The cylinder may just sit there on the bamboo knuckles.  If it doesn't make a new knuckle with the glue gun.  (A ring of glue for the cylinder to rest on)

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12. Slide the sand bag over the whole lot, poking the bamboo cane out through the hole you made in the sand bag.

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13. Sew a running stitch round the bottom of the sandbag to gather it in.

 

14. Fireproof the sandbags and assemble your bullrushes.

 

If the cylinders are too much of a faff you can build up the space with bubble wrap round the cane, but beware it takes a lot of bubble wrap.