I thought I read in an issue of MR or on the MR Forum that you could use dried Sedum for making trees on an HO layout. Does anyone know which issue it could have been in or what type of Sedum one can use for trees. Buying the pre-made ones is quite expensive if one needs lots of trees.
quick search on google turned up this thread – http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/11/t/160285.aspx.
I’m sure it’s been put in one of the print copies of MR within the past 3-5 years, and probably all over the place in even older editions [:)].
As I will have to make some trees in a near future I made some research recently and I found a video on YouTube about making trees from Sedum. This video provides some information but I would not like to have this kind of trees on my layout. I am still searching.
My wife had some sedum in her garden, so I harvested it at the end of the season a few years back. I didn’t do anything special. I just let it dry out, and then sprayed it with “moss green” paint from a rattle can. Then I hand-painted the trunks and branches with gray craft paint.
The sedum trees are the tall, spindly ones with no lower branches. This is the way it grows. I left the original foliage on the branches, and I didn’t add anything else. Not being much of a botanist, I have no idea if this is a completely unnatural tree, but it looks reasonable to me. I like the high “canopy” look to these trees, which I supplement with lower ones to get a more natural forest look.
In this picture, the tree behind the engine to the right is another sedum.
I’ve found these to be kind of fragile, particularly the tops. But, I don’t handle them and these have all lasted for years.
Other modelers have augmented the the tops with some leaf flock. That gives a fuller tree, and lets you play with the color a bit, too, but these do the job for me.
Here are some sedums cut down to be more like bushes. Like Mr. B I just use a rattle can spray for color.
Bob
Seedum trees look best when they are constructed from more than one plant and when they are covered with ground foam. Adding texture to the trunk to resemble bark also makes it look more like a tree. Otherwise, they just look like a plant plopped on a layout.
I am surprised that no one mentioned the use of Scenic Express Super Trees.($98 produces about 350 trees) Or a $25package produces about 60 trees. I am in HO scale and needed several hundred deciduous trees. I change the trees with the season. The first photo shows a combination of Summer and Fall foliage. I purchased the super crate of Super Trees from Walthers and a pack of Sage for making the trunks of close-up trees. I have found that if you open the bottom of the box, that the Super Trees are radially laid out in the box, and can be removed with little damage to the brittle trees. I spray paint the stems with dark grayish brown. As Suggested by others, it is a good idea to thoroughly soak the trees in a 50/50 solution of water and Matte Medium. This makes them less brittle and is an adhesive. I hold three branches together for this, and then spray on spray adhesive (or hair spray) over the box of Super trees (less mess and pre-coats the stems in the box. Thus,expensive spray adhesive is not wasted. I then hold the three stems over a bag of Summer or Fall colored fine turf foam, and sprinkle the turf onto the trees. It is a good idea the finish the job with another spray of adhesive. I use carpenters glue to attach the Super tree to the sage. I ,personally think that the Super Trees are more realistic than either the Sedum or puff ball trees. Click on photos to enlarge them. Then, click on “Previous” or “Next” to view other scenes on my layout. 
Another idea is for creating a conifer forest on a narrow ridge. I use the black packing sponge andcut it into 1/8" thick sheets. Spray the sheets with Forest green spray paint, and then cut them with a zig-zag pattern; Spray with varied colors of green and layer these onto to top of a narrow ridge [URL=http://s173.photobucket.com/albums/w78/ROBTAHahn/?action=view&
I know others have their opinions. But I have to agree. I don’t believe that I’ve ever seen any example of a Sedum-based tree which looked realistic to me.
Hi there Maxman
They do look like Australian Eucalypt Trees as they grow here depending on the species that misterbeasley’s pictures reminded me of … have a look at
I know that there are quite a few tracts of Australian Gums in North America and there was one in my daughters backyard in London, England so they don’t look like they do here in Australia as they do in California…
Hope this helps
Regards from Australia
Trevor
They look best when they’re tightly clustered together (such as covering a hillside) so that you can’t see the branch structure.
Steve S
Sometimes I cut off the flowerets and use them for underbrush.
Bob
Didn’t realize the original post was 2 years ago
Actually trees growing close togeter usually don’t have many branches down low, they are racing each other for the sun.
Also, does anyone have a pic of what Sedum looks like in bloom? All these threads about using dried plants for trees always show the dried plant, but they are much easier to locate when in bloom since they looks more disticntive.
The stuff we have in our garden looks like this once the leaves have dried up in the fall:
This is not very tree-like by itself, but can be made into a serviceable one. I usually trim off most of the upper part, rounding it a bit as i go (I don’t worry about waste, because mother nature generously provides me with about 100 of them every year). Using white glue, I will attach several smaller stems to the base, then use squadron putty to thicken the trunk.
I then cover the top with poly fibre and apply ground foam. Not terrific for individual (that is, stand-alone) trees, but for a forested hillside or small copse, this is a great, inexpensive option.
Seeing as my layout models Southern California, I need to model quite a few eucalyptus trees and these Sedum trees do indeed look a lot like a typical euclyptus tree. The only problem is I have no idea where/if Sedum can be found in Southern California.
Hi there,
I thought the same here in Australia but one of our club members (meltonmrc.org.au) who only lives a block away has a flowerpot full so I am sure it is around or grown from Seedlings etc although I am not exactly . What I am wondering is exactly what “Yarrow” is or whether there is an equivalent here as I have seen a lot of reference to it in older MR’s but no luck finding it or whatever it is here…
I’ll check Michaels source for the Sedum and let you know but as I said earlier, Aussie Ecucalypts look different as the natural “predators” aren’t there … including koalas eating the leaves!
Cheers from Melbourne
Trevor www.xdford.digitalzones.com for your interest