For the embankment at Selly Oak, I wanted some really thick, scruffy undergrowth. More texture than static grass alone could offer. The sort of horrible, spiky bushes that self-set in ground no-one cares about, forming a thick and impenetrable barrier if you try to walk through them.
After a little bit of pondering, I decided to use lots and lots of small pieces of "Forest in a Box". Green Scene supplied me with a box marked "S" which contained shot, but dense material. All I had to do was cut it up even smaller, dunk in PVA and press home on the embankment.
What should have been a quick job took more time than expected as the Seafoam needed to be cut into small pieces and quite a few of the less dense stalks were discarded. It looks nice though, in a horrible, wouldn't want to have to retrieve my school cap from there* sort of way.
Bad primary school memory involving a rose bush.
Ideal for an urban fox den
ReplyDeleteI don't know why, but I had an image in my mind of some of those green abrasive fleeces - often used for scouring pans - instead being stuck down to a brown substrate.
ReplyDeleteOf course, other colours are also available - and it might be better if the abrasive fleeces weren't exactly pristine - perhaps even old dishwashing sponge / scourers, once they've worn down into holes and the abrasive bit has started peeling off.
OK - they'd need to be washed first - but, as long as they can be stuck in place, there wouldn't be too much work needed to make them look rough and generally nasty.
Only a thought - and probably not a very good one.
As Huw suggests, a friend has literally just blogged about that experience:
ReplyDeletehttps://princestreet.wordpress.com/2021/02/01/scrub-that-1/
and I'm currently using rubberised horse hair and postiche a la Gordon Gravett to achieve a similar result.
Good to see another alternative Phil - and one I've used in the past too, the PVA should ensure it's brittle nature isn't too much of a problem!