Finally Found Some Trees!

Don, good looking tree.  What are the branches from?

Doug

Nice looking tree!

Doug, are you kidding me? I don't know what half the plants here are. I never thought I would do it but I had to join a garden club so I could take care of the yard. We have orchids in our front yard. I didn't know they were air plants. I was going to move them and plant them in the ground. That would have killed them. The "tree" is some kind of brush on the dry side of the volcano. The great thing about it is it looks very fragile buts its tuff. I'm learning new things every day here. That's a good thing. Next time we drive up to the volcano I'll take pictures of the brush. Don

Don, that tree looks great!  I'm considering taking a stab at making some trees, can you start me in the right direction with a how-to recommendation?  Thanks.

Don those tree's are beautiful, when I build my next layout in a few years to come I want trees just like that.

Thanks, Alex

Hi Steve, I used old dried twigs from Scotch Broom in California. It's a bad plant because of the oils it. It burns very hot and fast. So you don't want it around your house. Use anything with fine branches. Once you find what looks like a small tree, trim it for shape. I then spay a small area of the "tree" with spray adhesive. For foliage I use Woodland Scenics FC57 "light Green". Just pull off a small amount and attack it to the limbs. Go slow and take your time. Change things if it doesn't look right to you. Don't use big clumps of the foliage. The smaller the better. Steve this is what scotch broom looks like when it's blooming. Don

Alex, I think you guys need to come over here and I will give you a lesson on making  trees. Don  

Thanks Don I'm on my way, how could I pass up an invite to Hawaii and also see a beautiful layout being built. Thanks, Alex

Don,great looking trees.What did you use as an adhesive?

Brad

Most natural plants I've seen lack the smaller branches in yours Don - they look great!

Thanks Don, I guess the next step is to hunt down the right twigs for the bases. I have some really great memories from my visit to the islands. . . now when did you say that tree making class starts!

Brad, you can use super glue or spray adhesive. They look a little better using super glue but spay adhesive is faster. Just make sure you don't use big pieces of the foliage. Be sure to get the foliage clusters. You don't have to use light green, you can mix the darker green if you want. I pull the clusters apart and put one piece at a time on. Also don't forget to trim the "branches" to a good shape. That doesn't mean it can't be irregular, it should be. Just don't have one large branch sticking way out. Good luck. Steve come back to the islands, we need your tax money.  Don

Ahhhhh... Haleakala.   Just about my favorite place on Earth.  Hiking down there is like being on another world.

VERY NICE!  I've tried some of the recommended methods of using natural products but have yet to find one with strong branch and trunk structure.  That stuff you found looks terrific: in shape, size, and strength.

- walt

Don:

That is a beautiful piece of work!  Now to do it another couple hundred times. 

Unfortunately, the good Lord didn't bless with me either the patience or the talent you have.  For that reason, I used sedum on my layout.  My next door neighbor has roughly 40 sedum bushes and lets me cut as many buds as I want each fall before he prunes the plant back to the ground.  I cut several grocery bags of these each year and allow them to dry in the basement for a month or two before moving to step two.

When I'm ready to make trees, I use cheap White Rain hair spray (99 cents a can at Publix here in the Southeast) as the adhesive.  I soak the bud top and bottom and then sprinkle on Woodland Scenics fine turf ground foam.  I spray the top and bottom one last time to seal everything and allow the tree to dry before "planting" on my layout.  This is the quickest and least expensive way to "forest" a train layout that I have found. I've attached a photo of some sedum trees in the campground on my layout.

If one has the patience, sedum could be used with the small clumps of ground foam individually applied in the same manner in which you did your tree.  The buds would have to be removed so that you have the ends of each "limb" to which the clump ground foam would be attached.

Curt

TThe ironic thing about the great trees on our club layout, which naturally is Australian themed, and the trees represent Eucalyptus "gum" trees native to here, but familiar to Californians is that ours are made by a gal from the NE US. Sally is a club member and has perfected them using copper wire, painted.