Ground cover in quantity ??

Tom:
That's a hard one. Maybe go back to the 1940's. I think you are a wood worker. What about saw dust? Or buy some foam pads and borrow your wife's blender........................
Joe

The one free ground cover I use are fall leaves. Ground up in a blender. You will still need some bushes and such. If you model a tree line running along the tracks it’s effective. What you save on ground cover. You will spend time and money on trees. Creating a fall or early winter scene. You will need something on the line of Supertrees.

If you want a highly detailed scenic layout. It costs big time. A bag of this and a bag of that an before you know it. You’ve spent $100 or more just to get one area area done. Even then. You will still add more.

This might be a good start...

Green Grass Blend

Dave

IMO ground cover is among the easiest things to create cheaply. The mistake happens when one assumes that uniformity is necessary. In reality, it is the opposite you want. Look around the real world and you will see what I mean.

My first trick is that whenever I take down a layout, I save up all the scrapings, and use them as the starting point for the next one. It is kind of like the old tradition of saving a few ashes from the campfire at summer camp to be added to next season's fire. It is a spiritual thing.

Next, you have to realize that every patch of ground should be different. A hillside is different from a lawn, or an empty lot, or a park, or a classification yard, or...   I probably use about 10% commercial materials. For the rest, I have coffee cans containing dozens of different cheap or free materials.  Some of my favorites:

• Sawdust colored using Rit dye or colored inks
• dried coffee grounds
• dirt
• scraps of lychen
• Peat moss
• ocean sand
• "Tube sand" (sold as a wintertime traction aid) sifted into various size materials
• kitty litter
• aquarium sand and stones
• chalk scrapings
• artificial "grass"
• artificial "coal"
• dried weeds
• hunks of foam and sponge ground up in an old blender
• spices and herbs

Treat this list like a painter's palette--the raw components that you mix and match to produce an infinite variety of textures, colors, and surfaces.

Nothing on the list costs anything worth mentioning, and with a little effort it will produce results that are better, more interesting and more unique than anything you could buy.

Most importantly: Have fun!

As an add to @Avanti 's post, thin cotton batting is relatively cheap on a square foot basis, it takes paint and extends the coverage of ground foam. Depending on what you do beneath it, it can take a flat layout into more 3D. Coffee grounds (degree of grind and roasting yields different effects), pea gravel, sand and plaster cast rocks help reduce overall costs and look good as well.  Plant materials can be hit or miss - depends on the look you are trying to achieve.  Ground herbs work well, but unless picked from your garden are probably too costly.

Odd that no one mentioned dirt.

Avanti did in his list.

It's number 3.

It comes in 5 gallon buckets if the little cans get annoying….

I would have never thought of dried coffee grounds.

But, don't they eventually dry out and start turning to powder after a while?   And, what about insects and rodents.  Are they attracted to it as a food?

I tried usings sawdust as a ground cover, because I do a lot of carpentry, but I could just never get it too look right.  It always looks like "flakes" after I glue it down.

Thanks,

Mannyrock

If you use unscented cat litter, make sure that it is NOT the clumping variety.

Tom,   I used the plaster cloth back in the beginning but then I found and tried some Gold Bond Gypsolite Plaster. I purchased 3 - 80 lb bags and I still have a bag and a little more left.  I see Home Depot has an equivalent called Structo Lite by USG - a 50 lb bag for $16.00. 

I used it for all backing on the ground cover.  Put it right over plywood, filled in holes and fixed joints.  It is pearlized which gives it a nice finish for basic ground.  Unlike plaster of paris which sets up within minutes , Gypsolite has the very small bumps (pearlized) in it and takes overnight to set up.  I then paint it all a base color depending on what you are modeling - green for grassy areas or brown for rock areas etc, Then you add you details such as all the ground foams, wood chips, and whatever.

And no, I don't work for either company!  Just passing on some money saving tips.  Good luck.  JP

I think the $130 for the bucket is what Tom was trying to minimize.

@Boilermaker1 posted:

It comes in 5 gallon buckets if the little cans get annoying….

RE Coffee Grounds - the idea is to dry them before being placed on the layout.  I've used them for ground cover/dirt and sprinkled on wet latex when trying to get a texture/bark on my trees.  See recent posts on TPRR. I have not used them for more than a year, but they are a dried bean, I don't see why they would crumble - that's why we need a grinder to get them small enough for coffee brewing.  Keep them dry and there are no bugs or mold growth.

I've used the oven at 220F and sun dried. Sun dried tends to preserve the original roast color better. For brown use a light to medium roast. 

I agree with GRJ re the 5 gallon bucket - certainly less expensive on a unit basis than the shakers - but I got the impression this was supposed to be "cheap".

I have a (metal!) coffee-can full of dried grounds that have got to be 30 years old. Once they are thoroughly dry, they do not change in any discernible way.

Scenic Express, Forest Blend, Dead Fall Blend.  Over the years,  that some of these products have been on my layout, there is an effect, of sunlight/ultraviolet light on the product. IMO.

Lots of good ideas in this thread. It would be helpful if those posting would also include a photo (or two) of how the "finished" product, whatever it might be, looks on the layout.

Question for @Allan Miller  So if the photos are posted on our "layout" posts, do you also want them posted in new threads?  Everything I've posted herein is also on my layout hence my note to see TPRR. Thought I was saving server space. Either way is fine with me. Jeff

Very interesting comments, especially about coffee beans.

Thx,

Mannyrock

It comes in 5 gallon buckets if the little cans get annoying….

I think the $130 for the bucket is what Tom was trying to minimize.

I guess if you drink really cheap coffee that 5 gallons of coffee beans might be cheaper,

Generally, calling up vendors and inquiring about bulk amounts does r3esults in discounted pricing so if large amounts of consistent quality materials are desired, a few phone calls are generally a good investment on one's time.

@ScoutingDad posted:

Question for @Allan Miller  So if the photos are posted on our "layout" posts, do you also want them posted in new threads?  Everything I've posted herein is also on my layout hence my note to see TPRR. Thought I was saving server space. Either way is fine with me. Jeff

No, Jeff, either approach works fine. My thought was that if someone had an innovate way of creating/applying ground cover, a closeup photo (or two, or even more) of how that technique works could be helpful for folks who might want to compare a number of various approaches.

@Allan Miller posted:

Lots of good ideas in this thread. It would be helpful if those posting would also include a photo (or two) of how the "finished" product, whatever it might be, looks on the layout.

Has "cheap ground cover" been covered recently in OGR?  If not (I don't recall seeing it), this might be a good topic.

"Leftovers" can make for inexpensive ground cover.  I use grout for bare areas of the layout.  I just happen to have a good amount of different color grouts from various tile projects I've worked on.  I've used straight out of the container and grout mixed with other materials, mostly sand or dirt.

Decided to take a few new pics of what I was referring to.  All these are my early attempts at creating decent looking landscaping for my railroad.  As everyone knows practice improves the results.

Not really quite sure what I was trying to accomplish here, except to represent a dry rocky area between the tracks. This is cotton batting glued to the plywood base and covered with a wash of mortar mix. Apply the mortar wash until you get the desired look and thickness.  This went down before the ballast and creates a ridge line to keep the ballast contained.

Another use of cotton batting glued over foam, painted dirt brown sprinkled with ground cover while wet.  These are two sections which are easily lifted off the layout for maintenance. The batting provides a soft edge which tends to hide the seams.

Just another view of a batting hillside. Grayish because of the lighting. Just built up a hill from foam, carved to general desired shape and covered with batting. Pretty light sprinkling of ground cover. Nice thing about this method is your carving skills can be pretty bad, the batting hides all the goofs.

An example of batting used over foam to create a "mountain".  This is intended as background just to give the impression of a background mountain. Hard to see, but there are 2 pieces of foam here sandwiched together. This entire 6 foot mountain section lifts out. If I was a little more careful I would have tucked the flap down to cover the seam. The removable mountain came in handy when my new BB had a larger overhang than I anticipated and crashed into the mountain side. Soft crash no damage - it just stopped.  I'll go back in and alter the problematic 3 inch section so I can run the BB. Just need another 1/2 inch of clearance. Another nice thing about this method is when I have clearance problems I can simply peel back the batting and carve out a bit of the underlying foam and lay the section back in place.

Using coffee grounds on the Burr Oak to add texture. Its a wire arbor painted with thick latex sprinkled with the coffee grounds.

Another use of coffee grounds as dirt in a garden scape.

These are coffee grounds poured onto the decking to simulate dirt. Since I did not really know how it would turn out nor if I would like its look, I left it loose. Of course my grandson loves to play trucks in the coffee.

Play sand spread around a terminal yard to simulate the stone normally in place. Again not glued down but left loose.  I think coarse sand would be a better option here. Another play spot for my grandson. The asphalt was laid using fine cinders/glue method used by Eric Siegel.

As to costs - the CEO and I cannot function without our daily cups of Java. So rather than tossing or mulching it - it goes into groundcover and bark - free as far as I am concerned. Cotton batting is a few dollars a yard - I can cover a lot of area for $10.  I buy gallon quantities of white or yellow glue to hold the batting down and the gallon of brown latex paint was custom mixed at Walmart for about $10. The batting soaks up the paint - buy the gallon. The ground cover will stick to the paint as it dries saving on glue costs.  Sand used to be pretty cheap - I had some left over from a gardening project. The mortar mix is also cheap, but again was left over from a honeydo project.

I am a big fan of the batting over foam. Its easy to work with, easy to install trees and easy to move around if built as a module. Saw the technique used on the web, but don't remember by who, otherwise he would have gotten credit as well.

Hope you all find this helpful.

This is another very helpful subject. Jeff, your approach is impressive. Using the batting nicely changes the contour of the surface. Do you have any photos of the actual landscaping process?

Jay

@Tranquil Hollow RR   The only partial image I have is here on the TPRR. Basically rough carve the foam to the profile you want. Drape the batting over the foam and cut to rough size.  Brush a thick coating of white or yellow glue over the entire surface of the foam. Then lay down the batting. Press firmly into the glue.  Let dry over night. Next day check to make sure its reasonably dry and re-glue at missing spots if necessary (wait to dry again).  Before painting, get whatever ground cover ready so it can be applied when the paint is wet.  Depending on where this is going, do a final close trim to clear off excess batting. (I like to leave a little excess at seams in order to help blend in the seams or to provide a transition at hardscapes like a wall.)  Then apply the paint. Not like regular painting - this is load the brush and dab to work into the batting. Then reload the brush move on to the next spot. This takes time to get complete coverage. Vinyl gloves help keep paint off your hands. When covered, sprinkle with ground foam.  Let dry overnight. 

This video explains this technique (and where I got the idea).  Colorado Joint Line  Full explanation video.  What I do a little differently.  Try to get the batting to lay how you want it to look when gluing down. Trying to fix it after the fact does not work that well for me. The batting will stretch so make sure you push it firmly into the glue so the batting is in contact with the foam. In the video you can see where it bounces a bit as he is painting. Trying to "fix" large folds eventually means you will cut out that fold and try to cover the seam created. Seams can be hard to hide - plan ahead to figure out where they make sense.  You can see seams in my mountain where I built the original and then added another larger section. I could not get that to disappear to my liking.  Note he added tape to cover his rails prior to painting. I would cover everything you do not want glue on first.

His second video on applying ground foam

As part of my ground cover, I use twigs that I find in my back yard and on walks in the park. When placed on the layout twigs give the impression of trees that have been cut down with a saw ... or have naturally fallen  and overtime have become logs.   I also use natural stones and rocks that I find in the river near my home .. ie: the stone cliff to the left of the cabin ... a large stone that I found became this smooth faced rock cliff.  Click on images to enlarge.

Absolutely wonderful information! All of you! Thank you!

Patrick, that looks absolutely stunning, wow.

Jeff, thank you so much. Your explanation, along with the video, will be a great help.

Jay