Let Me Give You a Tip: Fast Foliage

The main set will have several trees throughout the entire landscape. My solution for adding fast foliage to them was to (slowly) press real branches pruned from my garden over time. Above is a selection of fully processed branch tips ready to attach to bare limbs. Random samples above are likely, Snowbush, Pecan tree, Chinese Flame tree, Polygala myrtifolia, and miscellaneous shrubbery clippings.

Tree Building Area; I clamped several salvaged large natural branches as upright trunks to tables and chairs so that smaller branches can be taped to them with copious amounts of masking tape. The finished trunks are dry brushed with leftover house paint to unify color and for texture. Then, processed pressed dried leaf tips get attached to the finer branchlets. Boom! Good-looking trees.

 

During weeks of pressing, a pile of foliage is placed on a base, covered with cardboard, then weighted with every heavy thing nearby: oversized books, cement molds, tubs of hardware.

It's a monstrosity that is always in the way, a real toe-stub magnet.

It takes time but not attention. The transformation happens on its own while other work is happening. So the results can be added before you know it.

Here's an example of one variety of fresh foliage... Polygala myrtifolia, I'm thinking.

...And here, after pressing and thoroughly dried out weeks later. Depending on the branch tip material, the color is permanent, and the leaves stay attached, even during manhandling.

Finished trees revealed in upcoming posts. Thanks for watching!