Shrubs

[Kinetic man]

I\'m trying to do some new things with some old bases but I\'m at the end of my rope here... I\'ve tried to find info on how to do little shrubs or bushes on bases where the grass sticks straight up but keep coming back empty handed. Are there any articles or tips somewhere on how to achieve this effect? Or what to use to do it?
I don\'t want that \"I just dipped my base in flock\" look all over my minis especially since I already have the rest of the base (i.e. the rocks and sand) finished and waiting.

 

[airhead]

Possiblities:
Short length of fine stranded electrical wire (2\" or 50 mm +/-). Solder the end so it cannot come lose (just a little at the very end). Trim wire to desired length/heigth of bush. Undo the rest of the wire in a bushy branchy fashion. Dip in glue, dip in the spongy ground clutter or dip in H&A Leaf Litter.

I\'ve done larger trees that way with Cat 5 computer cable. But I\'d think you\'d want a finer wire (electrical extension cord.)

 

[ScottRadom]

Two easy ways I know of. First, the cheap...

Woodland scenics makes all sorts of \"Field Grass\" in various colors. It comes in bags of straight colored pieces that are starnds of hair. I heard it was human hair once, but back on focus. I put a blob of super glue on the base, cut a small tuft out and put it into the super glue blob. looks like this....


And my preferred method is to use a product from a company call Silfor. They make different types of Buffalo grass in many colors. For 28mm stuff you want the biggest stuff. They\'re not cheap, and here (Western Canada) they\'re not available locally so I had to order online. Which since I didn\'t know what I wanted meant it cost me a fortune ordering a little of everything. It looks like this....

Hope that helps

 

[DaN]

Or, is you have any old brushes, you can snip off the strands and use them

 

[airhead]

ahh, you guys are talking about monkey grass.

Cheap disposable paint brushes (white pig hair) make great stuff for that.

 

[Shadzar]

Woodland Scenics field grass.

Or you could spray paint a 4 inch paint brush green and let dry and snip the bristles to make some grass.

A straw broom also could give some good tall growth plant look.

Paint the straw to the color you want if they are natural straw and uncoated.

You could also try searching the ground for lichen/moss. Find one you like and dry it out, then snip it to fit and seal it then glue down.

dying the lichen/moss while pulled clean can give some strange effects when dried.

 

[ScottRadom]

Originally posted by airhead
ahh, you guys are talking about monkey grass.

Cheap disposable paint brushes (white pig hair) make great stuff for that.

What\'s monkey grass?

As for cost, the woodland scenics stuff I mentioned is only 5$ canadian for a small bag that will EASY do 150 mini\'s. Silfor tufts I mentioned are WAY more.

But I\'d like to learn more about monkey grass...

 

[airhead]

Originally posted by ScottRadomWhat\'s monkey grass?

Mondo grass, also known as monkey grass (Ophiopogon japonicus), is an evergreen, sod-forming perennial. The scientific name is derived from ophis = snake, and pogon = beard, most probably referring to the flower spike.

Description
Plants are tufted, grasslike and 8 to 16 inches high. The ½-inch leaves are dark green and fine to medium in texture. They are erect to arching, smooth and grasslike. The flowers are usually white or white tinged with lilac. Flowering and fruiting occur from July through September.

Mondo grass is quite often confused with liriope (Liriope muscari). However, the leaves of mondo grass are more narrow than those of liriope, the smaller flowers are hidden by the leaves, the fruits are blue compared to the black fruits of liriope and mondo grass is less cold hardy.

from: http://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheets/HGIC1110.htm

 

[ScottRadom]

Thanks Airhead!

We\'ve got big old tufts of grass here on the wild Canadian Prarie that look MUCH less beautiful. They even pop up on poorly maintained lawns. I\'ve always just heard it referred to as crab grass.

I like Monkey Grass better, it loks much nicer.

I\'d snag a picture but everything here is dead and november-looking.

Thanks again!

 

[Kinetic man]

Originally posted by ScottRadom
Two easy ways I know of. First, the cheap...

Woodland scenics makes all sorts of \"Field Grass\" in various colors. It comes in bags of straight colored pieces that are starnds of hair.

That\'s all the info I needed! Thanks! It\'s actually incredible hard to find this stuff when you don\'t know who makes it.

 

[ScottRadom]

I\'ve had to order my stuff from the states, and I\'ve used \"Scenery Express\" Good selection, not sure if they\'re priced high or low though.

Anytime!