Grinding Dried Leaves


GeorgiaTrains

GeorgiaTrains

GeorgiaTrains
I am wanting to create some ground cover to lay under trees and I am cosidering grinding up actual dried leaves.

Has anyone attempted this and what did you use to do the grinding?

I model in HO


Thanks

Larry
 
An old Blender is the best thing to use. Start out on med. speed & then fast speed. Always use a lid on the Blender container.:D
 
Leaf Grinding

That's what I was thinking but, I have to wait until my wife is out of the house.

I know about the lid - did a Marguarita one time and forgot on about the third one.

Many thanx!

Larry
 
I did something very similar. I bought this bag of moss at Hobby Lobby, it wasn't in the model train section, but over in the dried flowers and lichen area. Oh yea, don't leave home without your 40% off coupon. I took it out of the bag and cleaned some of the bark on the underside off, actually a little bark doesn't hurt either, put it in an old blender, and shredder up the whole thing. It actually turned out rather well. Wet your surface with some "wet" water, put the ground cover under the trees, and then soak with a diluted white glue and water mixture. Dry leaves would work, but leave you with a brown, more fall covering. The shredded moss gives more of a green ground covering. Good Luck. - Chris
 
I have done this along with grinding foam as well. I made a few comments on how I would like to use my wife's blender for all this & that's all it took.:eek: She got me one at Wally World for less than $20. :D
 
Get a blender at a garage sale or just buy a new one at Walmart. They are cheap enough and you don’t have to explain how bits of green ground foam or ground up leaves remain stuck under the blades. :) The blender that I have has threads so that the blade unit is easily removable from the jar for cleaning. It just so happens that the threads are a perfect fit for a standard lid canning jar. Canning jars are sturdier than standard jars and I have had no problem using them. If you use one be careful. Though they work for me that does not mean that they will work for you. Glass jars can break so I am careful including using eye protection when blending with a canning jar.

It is rather nice to fill a jar half full and then blend the contents. Once blended I remove the jar from the blender, set it upright on the counter, remove the blade unit, and then put a plastic storage cap (available where canning jars are sold) on it and it is ready for storage until used. Ok, I’m lazy that way. :D
 
I use to have a How-To on my Blog that showed how to make Foam Tree & ground cover material. I had pictures & all, but, when I got out of the Hobby I closed down my Blog.
I have a 1/2HP elect. motor on a stand w/2 wire wheels at 4"diameter that I grind up old seat cushions that I get at my local furniture store for free. I try to get the 4 to 6" thick ones. I grind up the foam into a cardboard box. It's the same density of the foam you can buy from a hobbyshop that will cost you about $15.00 for a little bag. I then put the shredded foam in a 5 gal. plastic bucket & add a quart of my favorite leaf or ground cover color in latex paint. Don't thin it. I pack the foam in the bucket w/my foot before I pour in the paint. I then mix it up real good w/a paddle. Then I lay it out on a large pc. of newspaper so it can dry for about a week. After it dries good I put it in the Blender on high speed to thin out the clumps.Wa-La enough foam for about 20 layouts.
A 2ft by 2ft cushion about 4 to 6" thick makes about 4 buckets of shredded foam. W/the 4 buckets I make 4 diff. colors. I buy my paint at Walmart. When I sold all my train scenery stuff I used that foam in zip-lock bags for packing. So, there's a lot of guys w/readymade tree flock & ground cover to cover a large layout if they know what they have.:D
 
GeorgiaTrains said:
I am wanting to create some ground cover to lay under trees and I am cosidering grinding up actual dried leaves.

Has anyone attempted this and what did you use to do the grinding?

I model in HO


Thanks

Larry
Click to expand...

Larry, I sent you a PM.

Larry
 
Why buy new? Don't overlook various thrift shops where one can find blenders/coffee grinders for a couple of bucks. Same for a serrated knife for cutting foam and perhaps misc. tools.

Ya, I'm cheap.
 
If you can find a Sedum bush, the little petals make a fairly convincing leaf, although they might be a little big for HO.

leaves_zps4b167b5c.jpg



In late April/early May, the stuff below falls from oak trees and collects in the gutters. They don't look a lot like leaves, but they're a lot smaller than the Sedum petals.

groundcover.jpg


Steve S
 
You must log in or register to reply here.



Back
Top