When chipping away at the landscaping trying to dig a hole for the wheel/grass areas ,I came to realize just how strong this sand/glue or earth/ glue mix really is.
Anything that you would want to build for strength or that you would want to look like real cement ,such as sidewalks,cement blocks etc..this technique would be worthwhile experimenting with.
For example ,when making a cement block you would make a simple form,it could be wood or something else and then insulate the form and the cement from one another using wax paper or other water impervious material so the two will not be glued together and the block could later easily be removed.The properties and color etc..of your materials can be chosen to represent real thing.(Landscaping suppliers have lots of choices)Fancier molds could also be made for miniature statues etc..
Check your piece that you want to represent for color ,texture etc..(sand and real earth are available in different textures and colors) and then mix up a batch as follows.
It is a good idea to sterilize anything that you take from nature so heat it up in the oven or BBQ until hot to kill any possible critters laying about.The longer you heat it in a BBQ and depending on the temperature you heat it to, the sand/earth can be made to vary in color from natural to black.
Cool and then take your baked earth/sand and mix it with alcohol (75%) until it is the consistency that you require or you could pour the dry material into the mold and then use an eye dropper to apply the alcohol until it is thoroughly damp.Take another dispenser,(I use a small plastic squeeze bottle for this) and then drip by drip thoroughly wet down your sand/earth/alcohol mix until it is wet with another mix of 75% water and 25% white carpenters glue.This mix could also be colored using water based acrylics.Let dry,remove it from the form and you will have imitation cement.Have fun!