Growing trees - Part 3

I'd meant to post pictures of the completed trees planted on the layout once they were done, but shortly afterwards I went down with Covid, and I have only now got around to this update!

Since the baseboard is foam-core board and landscape is expanded polystyrene covered in a PVA-soaked tissue and tile grout skin, planting the trees is easy. A dental probe is used to punch a hole through the hard skin of the scenery after which the tree can be "planted", it's wire "root" pushing easily through polystyrene and foam-core. The wire and base of the trunk are coated with matt modge-podge to hold it and if needed gound cover is pushed out the way to allow the trunk to sit on the landscape, any gaps being disguised with a little extra ground foam scatter. 

The right-hand end of the layout now looks quite wooded, as is the intention since the river valleys are filled with trees. Although the trees form a row only one tree deep the use of denser foliage on trees in the centre suggest the woodland is more dense than it actually is. One tree sits at the front adding depth to the scene and acting as a view-blocker, while the trees at the right-hand end very effectively screen the track exit. With the tree at the front too, the exit is not easily visible even looking along the layout. 

You may notice some flowers and grass tufts have been added, the flowers adding a welcome splash of coulour but hopefully in a subtle way while the tufts add more variety to the grassy areas. 

At the left hand end a couple of large trees break up the scene and help disguise the compressed road, the tree at the rear having more dense foliage. I added some commercial poplar trees behind the station where there is a narrow embankment, hopefully adding some visual interest. 

The playground is now fully assembled and set into the scene, and backed by trees to give a woodland effect. It has gained a fence (Ratio) and some gates. The rear fence is attached to the playground sub-base while at the front it is fixed to the embankment, which along with the low undergrowth completely disguises the edge of the sub-base. The playground surface has a brown scatter representing the bark chippings that once seemed popular for such playgrounds. Some flowers (pansies?) line the embankment and there appear to be some bluebells in the woods. 

At the right-hand end the trees can be seen to hide the exit track, while the tree at the front frames a scene around the bridge. My wife observed that the tree at the front has become a regular feature of my layouts, including Loctern Quay and Awngate! At the rear a tree by the stream both disguises the join in the backscene and casts a shadow where the stream meets the backscene. Grass tufts can be seen in the fields too.