Best Of Interactive Scenery Clinic Week1: Ground Cover: Trees: Shrubs

[wm3798]

I don't think any of us have enough money for that...
Lee

[shark_jj]

I took a quick look at the WS Canopy Kit at the National Train Show a last year and I thought it looked like a package of the kind of stuff that Lee has suggested picking in your back yard.  You were paying, I think around $20, for something you could get for free with very little work.

[Ryan87]

I took a quick look at the WS Canopy Kit at the National Train Show a last year and I thought it looked like a package of the kind of stuff that Lee has suggested picking in your back yard.  You were paying, I think around $20, for something you could get for free with very little work.

You really don't want to use the stuff we pick up in our back yard.  ;D

[shark_jj]

Ryan, I trust you are being humorous.  I have used a variety of plant product over the years, ranging from golden rod to pampas grass to sedum.  Lee has an excellent clinic on his website on the use of Sedum.  However, that being said, and not having seen your yard, you may be absolutely correct.  I am luck that my wife is an avid gardner and the whole yard is a garden with a wide variety of things to choose from.

[Ryan87]

Ryan, I trust you are being humorous.  I have used a variety of plant product over the years, ranging from golden rod to pampas grass to sedum.  Lee has an excellent clinic on his website on the use of Sedum.  However, that being said, and not having seen your yard, you may be absolutely correct.  I am luck that my wife is an avid gardner and the whole yard is a garden with a wide variety of things to choose from.

We have a dog. Hense the  ;D

[shark_jj]

gotcha...I never use those emoticons, so I tend to overlook them, sorry.

[lashedup]

Figured I'd add these as well. Trees are Supertrees, painted with primer and a hit of black and then sprayed with 3M adhesive and covered in Scenic Express fine Flock and Turf. After that I mist the trees with some different colors of muted green spray paint. The underbrush is Woodland scenics polly fiber stretched out, painted a primer color and doused with Woodland Scenics fine green blend foam. I also sprinkled ground tea leaves (just cut open some generic tea bags from Walmart) to simulate old dead leaves and assorted ground crud. All of that is on top of a base of static grass. I still have bushes, weeds, vines and more to add to this scene (and a LOT more trees) to complete this module.



and a macro closeup using Helicon Software...

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Wow, that's really good. I'm not afraid to use them in summer now!

[Caleb Austin]

Nice stuff Lashedup! That under growth shot looks like my woods.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

Thats just about perfect!

[DKS]

...I also sprinkled ground tea leaves (just cut open some generic tea bags from Walmart) to simulate old dead leaves and assorted ground crud....

Brilliant. Best summer scenery I've seen in a long time! The tree trunks even look as if they have moss growing on the North side...

Long ago, I used whole cloves for tree stumps, and stained stripwood with concentrated coffee (I didn't have access to normal stains). The layout smelled good!

[wm3798]

Teabags!  Eureka!

Ground cover for the masses!
Lee

[wm3798]

I discovered a yet another new source for cheap trees in the back yard...  My wife was off for a couple of days, so she commenced to weeding the garden.  August is always a difficult time out there in the flower beds, there's usually very little rain, it's hot and humid, and there just isn't much motivation to go out and do any weeding.  So by mid August, the yard looks like the set for Platoon.

Well, anyway, she went out and started cutting and pulling, and in the process, she pruned back our Butterfly Bush.  Now don't ask me what the "official name" of it is, because I don't know.  But this bush puts out a very interesting cone-shaped flower, each with hundreds of little tendrils radiating from a stem. 

As I was stuffing the trimmings into a lawn and leaf bag, my curiosity was piqued.

I clipped off one of the flowers, and disappeared into the garage for a moment.  First, I trimmed it back to more of a tree shape, and pulled off all the extraneous leaves from the stem.

I really like these, because unlike the red sedum, they already have a nice full, multi level crown.

I sprayed it with some Acrylic Matte Finish, then rolled it around in some ground foam, and in a matter of moments, had a pretty good looking tree.


So this morning I went out with the nippers, and pulled enough flowers from the pile of clippings to make about 100 trees.  This took about an hour and a half, including the sorting and clipping part.  I was amazed at how quickly this process went.

Here's the results...




I finished this scene before lunch!  I love it when a plan comes together!

Anyway, I really like these for tree armatures.  In addition to the 3-D advantage over cedum, the stems are also more substantial looking, especially when compared to Super Trees, which can look downright spindly.  I also like the volume of pieces that are available from a single trimming of the bush...  My garsh, I've got enough material for maybe 500 trees.  Each flower is good for 2-3 N scale trees, depending on how tall you like them.

Lee

[Ian MacMillan]

lashedup, what color Silfor are you using? I'm having an issue with what I think is Scenic Express shipping the wrong color in a mislabeled package.

[GrampysTrains]

Here's some trees, shrubs, and ground cover on my layout.