Large Scale Central

Dead Tree Idea?

Had a nice shaped Juniper I had in my layout in town and moved out here. There sere several and the last one died this spring/winter. Hated to see it go, so sprayed the needles(after many had fallen off) with a mix of wood glue and water. Then spray painted it with several green colors I had. Crazy idea probably, maybe the heat got to me? Will see how it works out. Will try to get a pix soon.

Jerry, why not leave it as a dead tree. I see standing dead trees all the time, its not unprototypical. Spray painting it green kinda is.

I thought about that David, thought I’d give this a shot.

I’m interested to see how your painting turned out.

I have a Dwarf Albert Spruce that died this spring. So far I’ve left it in place, but my railroad is also a garden in my front yard. While dead trees might be prototypical, they don’t add to the beauty of the garden. If I had a spot that was strictly for the railroad and had lots of trees then a few dead ones would be good.

Prune it severely, and it can remain standing as either 1) a cell tower disguise as a tree, or 2) a tree caught in a tornado. I call my terribly disfigured prune jobs “tornado trees.”

After you prune it as Dick suggests, get some lumberjack figures with a long two man saw, saw a thin kerf into the trunk and set the figures in place with the edge of the saw embedded into the tree. That way you can show maintenance of the railway is ongoing. :wink:

Scott

Along Scott’s line of thought, if it’s sturdy and timbering is happening nearby, it could become a spar tree.

http://www.cabincreekcds.com/lidgerwood1905.htm

I can’t seem to get a good picture of the tree. Seems to be holding up well, no more needles have fallen off since I sprayed the glue mix on it. I used several green spray cans. Might start with white first, then hit it with the greens. I shot green right on the brown needles.

I had a dead dwarf alberta sprice in the ground for years after it died. I wanted to strip it down and make it in to a log boom for loading at KVCabins. It may still be there.

Still holding up fine after several months in the hot Nebraska sun.

One would never think you painted it. Nice save.