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I am not a crafty person, but after watching a couple youtube videos on making your own trees from sedum, it seemed pretty straight forward.  My wife noticed our neighborhood common area had planted some sedum this summer, so I waited for the first couple hard frosts and it to die off.  Last week I cut a couple heads off and this week I tried to make a couple trees.   I'm now hooked.  It couldn't have been easier.  Knock off any loose leaves/branches.  Spray the tops and bottoms of the heads with mixture of white glue and water.  Sprinkle with some woodland scenics fine turf.  Instant trees for a price that is basically free for what you might already have sitting around.  I've tried both the "dip" method and the "sprinkle" method (my names for how to get the green onto the sedum).  I like the sprinkle method better. The stuff that falls into the bucket can then be re-used.  Literally probably takes me 1-2 minutes per tree.  I'm now needing to drive around a couple more neighborhoods and find dead sedum...although I do wonder if someone will question me parked on the side of the road and wonder what that old guy is doing cutting those dead plants...

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As I do more of this, wondering what other cutting options might be out there to give my forest some variety?

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Last edited by VADarthDad
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Your not alone out there. I live in the northeast. There is a weed that grows in our area. Not sure of the actual name. Usually near a field. I was always on the lookout while driving. Best harvested in the fall. I went armed with bags or boxes for the harvest. I got the idea from an Allen Keller video.
  In order to make a tree. You need to bundle some branches together like making a bouquet. Wind floral tape around the stems to create a trunk. You can detail the trunk if it’s viewed in the foreground. Paint it a camo brown. The buds that are present sort of become the leaves. I model the fall and you want an airy look to the tree. Tough to achieve with commercial  foliage. Nice you have given it a coat of brown. Now just try to paint the buds your fall colors. An airbrush makes less of a mess but I usually opt for a rattle can as it goes much quicker. No matter how you build a tree. There is going to be a tedious part. After your satisfied with the coverage of your spray bombs. You need to go back and paint out the branches with a fine brush so they are more grayish rather than orange or yellow from the leaf color. Once you get going in assembly line mode. You can crank them out pretty quick for virtually very little cost.
As far as durability. You can give them a final coat of Matt medium. If you just leave them be on the layout. They hold up very well. I have some that are over 25 years old that still look good.

I apologize for the engine ruining the picture. But it’s the best one I could find showing some of the trees. As trees get larger in size. They become harder to pull off. These are decent size

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Last edited by Dave_C

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