Making Trees

Here are the materials I put together to make the trees on the Southern Ohio Railway. One reason I decided to make trees by hand is that the cost of placing so many trees on my layout was prohibitive. Take one look at the price of a plastic stick and some ground up foam and shudder! Ouch!
So off to "do it yourself land".
The photo above shows the "middle step". Before this I had taken an old carpet pad I had saved and shredded it apart by hand. I then placed the pieces of foam in a plastic ziplock bag, added some water and water soluble paint. Then close the bag and shake to paint the foam. The water is needed so the paint will soak into the foam and not just coat it. Remove the foam, place in a cardboard box with newspaper to absorb the liquid and let the foam dry for about three days.
I have made green, red, and yellow foam for a fall foliage effect.
After the foam has dried I was prepared for the next step. Going outside I cut branches off a shrub for tree trunks. I looked for short branches (obviously, I model N scale!) with lots of branches.
Using a low temp glue gun I glue pieces of foam onto the branches. A slow process that usually involves some tv.
On some trees I have used wire to form branches and glued foam onto the wire.

This photo shows a couple of trees ready to plant!


And finally we have a meet between the B&O and Conrail passing some newly planted trees.
I plant the trees by drilling into the wood or into the plaster hills that I have built and gluing the trees into place.
That is how I do trees. They may not look like "professional trees" you can buy, but I am please how well they come out and how much they add to the look of the layout.
Another option for the trees is to spray glue onto the foam and then dust with ground foam that I have purchased.