After fixing the bridge pier fiasco, I decided it was time to start the landscaping. Now mind you, I've
never done this before, so I was rather nervous I would screw it up.
The first thing i did was apply the wooden cribbing vinyl sheet to the sides of the cut. This is a Chooch Enterprises product, Medium Cribbing #8502. I still need to touch up the end with some brown paint. It is a self stick product, but I had concerns as to how well it would remain attached over time, so I used some DAP Alex Plus caulk to attach it. The caulk also sealed the gap at the top of the cribbing and cut wall. It worked quite well.
I then determined where to place the hedgerow, planted by the railroad to keep young (and old!) kids away from the track. The hedgerow is a JTT Scenery Products item, #95615 Hedgerows, 4/pk. I got it from Hobby Lobby. I think it looks really good right there.
I bought some Woodland Scenics ground foam soil, earth blend, and green blend. The bluffs and horizontal surfaces were given a coat of 50/50 white glue and water, followed by a coating of soil. The earth blend was the applied, leaving some areas of soil showing through. Once that had dried, the green blend was applied, more sparingly than the earth blend. I didn't apply any green blend to the bluffs.
I then used a 50/50 mix of matte medium and water, applied with an eye dropper, to seal it all in. The earth and green blends were not applied to the bottom of the cut. That was just covered with soil. The same is true for the parking area.
The buff colored talus was then applied to the base of the bluffs, to prevent erosion. I glued it in place with full strength Elmer's Glue All, not school glue, then gave it a going over with the matte medium. I glued the bottom layer down, let it dry, and then did the top layer.
Next I added the Woodland Scenics natural fine talus to the bottom of the cut and the parking area. This looks more like crushed rock than gravel, but I like the look of it. This was glued down with matte medium. The final step was to install the Woodland Scenics extra coarse natural talus around the perimeter of the parking area and the top of the cut to represent boulders. These are placed there as a safety barrier to prevent people and vehicles from falling off the top of the cut.
Once all this was done, I added some figures, placed the bridge in position, and put a loco and car on the bridge to see how it looked. Nothing is glued in place yet, though.
I need to do the other side yet. I won't pour the river until all the landscaping is done.
I don't think it came out too bad, for a first time.
Some of the ground cover got knocked off the bluff. I haven't decided what to do about it yet.
"Honest, it was
this big!"