Thanks to all who provided suggestions on how to apply static grass. After some (actually, a lot) of trial and error, I am reasonably satisfied with the way things are progressing.
To begin, I'm using a Joulip applicator and Woodland Scenics (WS) cement. The applicator is about $60 from Amazon and works well, although I have no experience with other brands. I applied the WS cement by both brush and spray. I used static grass from WS (2mm dark and medium green; 4 mm light green), Noch (6 mm wild grass), Mini Natur (4,5 mm beige), and Silfor (grass, 4 mm). I bought the WS grass locally and the others from Scenic Express.
I applied the grass over homasote that I had first painted dark brown. I brushed on the cement, fitted the applicator with the fine mesh screen, loaded it with 2mm dark grass, and followed the instructions. I was underwhelmed with the results. The coverage was very sparse and did not look good at all. Applying the grass about 1 to 2 inches above the table top resulted in better coverage. I discovered, too, that if I got further than 4 or 5 inches from the metal pin, the grass would not stand up. After that first application dried, I sprayed the cement over the "field" and applied the WS medium green followed by light green and then the straw. The coverage was much better and I was satisfied with the way the grass stood up, but the green colors looked very artificial. The straw color was okay, but the overall effect wasn't what I wanted. I ordered additional colors of grass from Scenic Express and applied them as before. In those spots where I wanted only a small application, I took a chip brush, bound the bristles into a semi-round shape with duct tape (gotta love that stuff), dipped the brush into the cement, and applied the static grass to those spots. I have a long way to go, but I think this will be the procedure.
So here's what I learned from all this: It takes multiple layers of grass to build up a decent looking scene, starting with 2 mm and going up to 6 mm. The farther away the applicator is from the metal pin, the poorer the result. The applicator should be close to the table top surface. WS grass is okay, but the other brands offer better coverage, color, and variety.
I'm attaching a picture of what it looks like so far. I still have weeds and brushes to plant, but I think this will work.
Jim
