Sedum Trees

[billslake]

This has probably been posted before . . . but I could use some help/advice.  I will soon have access to a load of sedum blossoms.  I know that some have used sedum to make trees.  So, my question:  what's the process?  Soak in glycerine, dry, dip in diluted glue, and dip in ground foam?  Any suggestions?

[Aikidomaster]

I have used sedum for trees in the past. I let the plants dry for several weeks/months. I dipped them in a dilute solution of Elmer's Glue and then sprinkled them with ground foam. I waited about 10-15 minutes and then used a spray bottle filled with the same dilute solution of Elmer's Glue and misted the plants.

Truth be told, I have changed to Scenic Express SuperTrees on my new layout. I like them a lot more, but each to his own.

[CTValleyRR]

There was an article in MR last year (I think) about how to do it.  The first mistake people make is to try to use them as they come off of the plant.  Here's what I do.

Trim all the florets off of the top, then soak them in diluted matte medium and let them dry (I hang them from the stems by a clothes pin for this).  Then I trim the top in to a good armature shape.  If I can't get a good looking armature out of one plant, I trim some branches from another and glue them on to the first.  Once I'm done gluing the other branches on, I use Sculpy (modeling clay) or Squadron putty to create a trunk around the glued-on branches, then paint it with a home-made tree bark color (gray with a little green mixed it).

When the paint is dry, I glue on polyfiber and dust with ground foam. They make pretty serviceable trees, but you have to work at it a little.

As Aikidomaster says, some commercial products are easier to use, but obviously, they cost more.

[MisterBeasley]

I do it the lazy way, or at least I did when I made these trees a few years back.  The seedum trees are the tall ones with the thin trunks that reach up to the top of the picture:

I let them dry naturally for a couple of weeks in the basement, and then sprayed them, branches, florets and all, with a dark green paint.  (I think it was called "Moss Green.")  Then I brush-painted the stems gray.

I usually place these as "canopy" trees, with high foliage but little below.  Then I use smaller but more full trees below them to provide a "mixed forest" look, which I like better than just using one kind of tree.

These don't look like any prototype tree that I'm familiar with.  On the other hand, pretty much any model tree, whether hand-made or grown from seed at Woodland Scenics, leaves a lot to be desired in terms of botanical realism.  This hawk doesn't seem to mind...

He's mounted on a piece of thin green floral wire.  From a normal viewing angle, he appears to be gliding above the tree.

[superbe]

I also use Mr. B's technique. Maybe that''s where I learned it.

In addition on the smaller ones or branches I shorten the stem and use them for bushes.

Cheap and long lasting

Bob

[Tsbyrr]

Billslake,

I've seen quite a few different ways to make sedum trees, all of which are good and give you somewhat different results.

I let the sedum dry completely and then trim the dried flowers off the ends but leaving as much of the branch structure as possible.  I then spray them with gray automotive primer to dull them down a bit and get rid of the blond/light beige color. After the primer dries (a few mintues is usually sufficient) I give them a light coat of spray adhesive. 3M Super77 works well. Give the adhesive a few minutes to get tacky, then coat the tree with some poly fiber. I like to take a clump of fiber and touch it to the sticky branches. When you pull the clump of poly fiber away, the adhesive will pull some away and tease it so its nice and wispy. Keep doing this until you've coated most of the tree with poly fiber. Once you're satisfied, soak the tree with cheap aerosol hairspray and coat it with flock or coarse ground foam.  Noch brand leaf flake flock works really well for this and looks quite realistic. Once the whole tree is coated with flock, give it a light shake to get rid of the excess and then spray it once more with hairspray to fix the flock in place.

I like to do several trees at once at each step and this way, I can do a few dozen trees per hour.  This method produces fuller trees that look less like puffballs on a stick and are more suitable for foreground trees. You can vary the look by varying the amount of polyfiber you put on the tree.

Pictures are available too.

Hope this helps!

Mark in Pittsburgh

 

[HHPATH56]

Are you planning on making a couple hundred trees? Sedum is fine, but I would suggest that you buy a crate of Scenic Express Super Trees to fill in the fine branches. Glue the short branches of Super trees to form an armature with the proper tree shape. After spraying the armature with light grey,I use a spray can of dilute matte medium to spray this armature. Then I use a spray can of spray adhesive. I then use my fingers to sprinkle on the fine or medium varied colored turf foam. It is a good idea to respray adhesive on your tree to prevent loss of turf. A crate of Super Trees will produce 350-400 trees. Trees in the distance (on a hillside), do not require trunks. Just glue on lighter colored green foam clumps. I use foam clumps as shrubs under the close-up trees. Be sure to drill holes for the trunks, vacuum up the white powder, and then spray with light and dark brown for the forest base. Personally, I do not like sedum, since deciduous trees do not branch out from the main trunk,like sedum does, and the fronds are much too heavy. Like Craig, I much prefer to use Scenic Express Super Trees. Bob Hahn

[stokesda]

I remember watching a MR video of David Popp making sedum trees a few years ago. Not sure, but I think it was on one of the (sort of free ) "Dream Plan Build" videos from years past.

Anyway, what he did was basically as follows:

Let all the sedum dry for a few weeks. Then they glued 2-3 stems together in a bunch to make a more "full" tree (I think CA gel was used). Then spray paint the whole thing RR tie brown or some other grayish-brown color. Clip upside down with a clothespin until dry. Dip the top in white glue or matte medium or whatever, then roll the top around in a container full of coarse ground foam. Then gently shake off the excess, clip upside down again to dry. At some point, he cut off the bottom of the stem(s) and CA'ed a metal pin (cut-off sewing pin, maybe?) in the bottom for mounting on the layout.

It seemed simple enough and convincing from the TV screen across the living room. I haven't tried this method yet, but I have a bunch of sedum ready and one of these days I'll get around to trying it...