Rendering a garden wall

[cessnaguy]

Hello , im going to have a go at rendering my rear garden wall and im wondering do i need to apply two coats of render or should the scratch coat be enough ??? im just going to paint the wall when finished .
i was going to go with 4 sand 1 cement and some plasticiser in the mix ,
I also have anothet question , i was watching a neighbour of mine build a house at the side of his exsisting house and i think he did a normal looking scratchcoat and then for his second coat it was like white plaster and then he was flicking stones onto this , im just wondering what the white plaster was ???and if this is white external type plaster could i use that as render for my wall as im sure im going to be painting the wall a light colour paint and this underneath might help a little , looking forward to your replies ......

 

[Alastairreid]

snowcrete and white sand will give you a white finish.

4/1 for your scratch coat 5/1 for your 2nd.

 

[legs-akimbo]

The white render is indeed white sand cement and Hydrated lime stone chips...all available at your local Chadwicks or Heatons.
As for plastering the walls in a white render then dont, You would imagine this to be the answer to never having to paint again but with our climate the walls will be constantly damp and white render when damp is as ugly as sin and never really dry out to an even colour.
Roadstone plastering sand scratch coat and finish coat.