A few notes

Thanks to MRH for using my article. The trees are simple to make and go very fast.

One note: You can use almost any weed stem or even twigs for the trunks. The main issue is make sure they are dry and bug free. I normally dry the weeds for two weeks and do the clipping outside, removing the bud is where the bugs normally are.

I hope you give them a try, youll be surprised at how good they look.

Making trees

Thank you for this article. It looks like something I can use. I have one question though. What is the purpose of the twine that you applied before the ground foam.

jmhohn@comcast.net

Twine before ground foam

I'm not Randy, but I can tell you the twine adds secondary branches to the armature, making for a more natural looking tree once you add the ground foam on top of it.

I gave it a try

I've been looking for a quicker alternate way than what I use. I tease green polyfiber wispy thin and stretch it over tree-shaped natural material. It's cheap and yields plausible trees, but the process isn't exactly rapid, so it's a big job covering a hillside.

I made a batch of Randy's trees using sisal twine over the course of a couple of evenings. NOTE - the process is quick enough that I could have finished more of them and done it all in a single day, but was interrupted by other activities that happen when I sit at my workdesk in the evenings: watching television sports and dozing off. But I digress....

Here are the results of my test batch, alongside a flat of some polyfiber trees for comparison

The polyfiber trees have an airier, more delicate appearance, whereas the sisal trees are coarser with a more gnarled appearance. The sisal fibers are much more prominent in the photo than when viewed in person. The polyfiber trees are much more fragile, even with all that hairspray adhesive. The sisal trees, with the fiber matrix held with rubber cement, spray paint, and hairspray/spray adhesive, as surprisingly tough and much more resistant to being handled without losing the ground foam flocking.

Another difference is that the polyfiber trees need a natural tree-shaped armature, which means using the end bloom structure of this particular bush. The sisal tree trunk does not need to be nearly as tree-like, allowing the use of more scale-sized sticks for the trunk.

I found that darker ground foam flocking made the green spray painted fibers stand out more, making a more scraggly-looking tree. The photo doesn't show that effect very well. Not sure how to address that.

While none of these are SuperTree quality, they're also not SuperTree priced. I expect that my technique will improve with my next batch of sisal trees as well. Overall, I give Randy's trees a thumbs-up. They will inject some nice variety into my hillsides.

Jim

@Jim

Jim, great looking trees on both sides. please clarify - which ones are which in the photo?

A guess

Yes, Dave is correct

Sisal trees on the left, polyfiber on the right in my previous photo.

Nice!

Very nice Jim!

You need my mailing address?

Thanks all

Thanks for the comments.

Joe is correct. The trick with the sisal strands are to provide a random length branch structure. It was with some trial and error to discover the use of them. If they are all the same length, the shape of the tree becomes too uniform.

It was my pleasure to provide the article, thank you to Joe and MRH for using it.

Those trees look very good Jim! Well done.

The green paint can be left off, this lets the natural brown of the sisal come thru, which will look like small limbs anyway. I have used the natural brown and the green bailing twine, both provided good results.

My next goal is to use various ground foam shades to create fall colors.

Thanks again!