Sorting Plumosys
Foliage for
twenty-five to fifty trees can be made from this
mass. The Plumosys is unwrapped and the
individual stems are pulled apart
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Select a branch
A single
stem like this can make several trees. Look closely at the center and you
will see the branch we will use to yield several components for a tree.
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Subdividing a stem.
Here is the
branch we cut from the stem.
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Cutting a branch
apart.
The branch is cut into three sections. The tip will be used later
as a smaller branch near the top of a tree, The
middle section will be used as the crown of a tree, and the last section
will be used as a lower branch on a large tree.
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First trim
A few more
cuts yields more branches. Look carefully and you will see that the central
stem as been stripped to remove a few tiny leaves at one end. This is the end that will be poked through the trunk.
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Done trimming
Save
everything for now when you are done trimming.
Even the smallest scraps can be used in the crown and the -leaves- that
shake loose can be used on the forest floor.
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The Crown
We can now
begin to assemble the tree. A fan-shaped sprig of foliage is glued to the
tapered tip of the trunk. Note that it must be glued high enough to extend
beyond and hide the tip of the trunk yet extend low enough so that you can
create a hole in the trunk for the topmost branch without breaking the
trunk. You might want to drill the first few holes.
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Tree branch insertion tools of all sizes.
Anything
goes for making a hole through the trunk just large enough to poke a branch
through. You can use a drill but that can be a bit
slow and tedious. safety pins have a sharp enough
point to penetrate but do not try to push all the way through. Simply make
a hole big enough for the branch, which is a lot smaller than you think,
especially for the smaller top branches.
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Tree Top
We can now begin to
assemble the tree. A fan-shaped sprig of foliage is glued to the tapered
tip of the trunk. note that it must be glued high
enough to extend beyond and hide the tip of the trunk yet extend low enough
so that you can create a hole in the trunk for the topmost branch without
breaking the trunk. You might want to drill the first few holes.
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Planting a Tree
The easiest and most
dependable way to plant a tree is to mix up a bit of plaster (I use hydrocal) and place a dab where the tree is to grow. place a pin (sharp end up) before it dries and insert
tree.
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TIMBERLY
Eventually a mixture of
plaster and sawdust will be used to cover the tree
moorings and your forest will be complete.
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