Miniature model bushes, shrubs and hedges can add realism to dollhouses and tiny gardens. Most of the tutorials available are related to foliage for model railways, and although the scale the modellers work may seem too small for dollhouses and DIY room kits, many of the same techniques can be applied to models on a 12:1 or 24:1 scale.
Before we get started, there are a few products that might not be in your crafting arsenal already, but which are super helpful when making miniature model foliage:
- Scatter – this is sold in model railway shops and by modelling specialists. It’s a sawdust-like material that’s available in different shades of green and brown. It’s used to create foliage on bushes and hedges.
- Scenic leaves – also found in model railway shops, these are tiny leaves which add more detail and realism to model shrubs and bushes.
- Adhesive spray – you can use normal PVA glue but adhesive spray is easier to use when covering a whole shrub with adhesive. It tends to be much less clumpier than liquid glue and can provides a more even coverage.
We’re lucky that we have a huge model train shop about 10 minutes walk from where we are, so I can buy products from there. But they also sell online or you can source many of the model railway products from Amazon too.
Rails of Sheffield has been in the city since the 1970s and it sells everything needed to create miniature landscapes, including lots of materials for hedges, bushes and shrubs.
Below, we take a look at some of the easiest and most effective techniques for creating realistic and just plain cute foliage for your miniature project.
Miniature Topiary Bushes From Recycled Packaging
We’ve just had Christmas, which means there’s plenty of packaging which could be put to good use instead of going in the bin.
I’m planning on starting a DIY coffee shop kit soon and want to put a couple of bushes by the front door so I wanted to have a go at miniature topiary. The coffee shop kit is a 24:1 scale.
To make two square bushes, I completed the steps below:
Step 1
I cut up a piece of foam packaging into two small square shapes using sharp scissors. It was tricky to get them exactly the same size, so if it did this again, I would definitely measure them!
I then impaled the bushes on cocktail sticks.
Step 2
I used green acrylic paint to cover the bushes completely. It doesn’t matter if the paint gets on the cocktail stick as I was going to replace this later.
Step 3
Once the paint was dry, I sprayed the bush with adhesive and dipped it into miniature leaves, I used Gaugemaster Mid-green Leaves. I found it easier to put some of the leaves in a pot and dip the shrub in, rather than just sprinkling the leaves over the shrub.
Step 4
For the trunks I used a wooden cocktail stick and painted this dark brown then let it dry. I used Citadel Doombull Brown paint and Earthside layer to paint the cocktail stick. In hindsight though, it definitely wasn’t worth spending £6.75 for this paint as the sticks are so small and only about a centimetre of the stick is on displace, so I’ll just use the kids’ paint next time!
Step 5
After it was dry, I removed the unpainted cocktail sticks from the bushes and replaced these with the painted cocktail sticks.
Step 6
I made the plant pots out of polymer clay but they were pretty rushes as I was trying to stop my five year old from creating havoc with polymer clay and glitter at the time!!
Step 7
Once the plant pots were baked and cured, I then cut small disks of the same packaging used to create the bushes and painted these brown. Once they were dry, I put the bushes through the middle of the packaging and then slotted the packaging into the top of the plant pot.
I’ve ordered some brown scatter to use as earth to make the soil look a little more realistic. But as the packaging foam is textured the do look pretty realistic anyway!
When I make new plant pots for these bushes, I’m not going to use brown polymer clay as I think the plant pots would look better if they were in a contrasting colour to the trunk and soil.
These are about 6cm high from the base of the pot to the top of the bushes. I won’t know for sure until I make the coffee shop but I do think they might be a bit too big for the scale of the coffee shop!
I definitely want to try making these pots below to replace my no-so-good effort. I also want to try recycling toothpaste and tomato puree lids into plant pots too!
The best thing about this technique is that it can be used to create a huge range of hedges, from private hedges, to individual bushes to perfectly manicured topiary. And it’s a great way to use up packaging destined for the landfill!
TOP TIP: When I made these bushes, I used an open packaging box as my work surface. This is good as you can skewer the bushes into one side of the packaging and use the centre of the packaging as your work surface, you can even mix paint on it!
Coconut Fibre Basket Model Hedges
Coconut fibre is the corse material often used to make mats or to line plant pots with. It has a super rough texture and is ideal as a base for making model hedges and bushes. Often used to create foliage on model railways, coconut fibre can be cut to size so it’s also suitable for larger scale projects. You can either buy the fibre in a roll, or buy a hanging basket liner made from coconut fibre from Amazon or a garden centre – this is likely to be more cost effective as a little goes a long way.
Step 1
Cut a square out of the coconut fibre mat (or a rectangle shape if you’re making a longer hedge). Impale the coconut fibre on a kebab skewer or cocktail stick so you can complete the other steps without having to hold the mini hedge in you hand.
Step 2
Apply an adhesive spray to the coconut fibres and then scatter green scatter over the coconut fibre base. Do this over a plastic tub so you can catch any of the excess scatter.
Step 3
When the scatter has dried, apply another coat of adhesive spray and sprinkle miniature leaves over the shrub. After everything has dried fully, trim the bush to shape using scissors.
There’s a detailed tutorial on how to make hedges out of coconut fibre in the video below. This tutorial is for model railway hedges, but you can apply the same technique to dollhouses, box room sand miniature gardens.
Synthetic Wool Model Bushes
Synthetic wool is used to stuff cushions and soft toys, so this is a very cheap way to make hedges and bushes. If you don’t have any spare, you can buy synthetic wool from places like Hobbycraft, it’s often called toy stuffing or craft wool. Hobbycraft actually sell a recycled polyester version if you’re wanted to be a bit more eco friendly.
The great thing about making hedges this way is that you can scale the size up or down to suit your model. You can even use the material to make trees.
Unlike coconut fibre, it’s quite tricky to form an exact shape with synthetic wool hedges so this material and method is best suited to more natural bushes, rather than for miniature topiary.
All you’ll need to recreate these bushes is:
- A clump of synthetic wool
- Acrylic paint in brown or dark grey, or a mixture of the two
- Green scatter – you can also mix in some brown or grey scatter to make the bush more realistic
That’s it! These bushes take around five minutes to make, although the initial coat of paint will need 24 hours to fully dry.
Step 1
Cover a clump of synthetic wool in brown acrylic paint. This step is really just to disguise the whiteness of the wool, so you could use grey or even dark green if you don’t have brown paint.
Let the paint dry for 24 hours.
Step 2
Once the paint is dry, the bush should feel much sturdier and this means it’s ready for the glue to be applied. Pour out some craft glue into a dish and use tweezers or pliers to dip the wool into the glue, covering it completely.
Step 3
Pop the scatter in a large container and shake it well if you’re using a mixture of colours. Next drop the bush into the container and shake it around until the glue on the bush is completely covered in scatter.
Step 4
Add a few spots of glue to the bush and apply some scenic leaves for some added realism.
In the video below, the modeller uses a small clump of synthetic wool to create a tiny hedge. The video gives a step by step tutorial to making these miniature bushes.
Polymer clay miniature bushes and shrubs
If you want something that’s less realistic but cuter, then polymer clay is a great material for making cartoon-style bushes and shrubs.
The bright colours of polymer clay make it ideal for creating animated looks that would be right at home in a Rolife miniature DIY room such as the Garden Entrance or Miller’s Garden. You could either add your own flair to the kit by making your own bushes or you could create your very own miniature garden inspired by the Rolife kits.
Alternatively, polymer clay shrubbery can work in dollhouses and dioramas.
Step 1
Use brown polymer clay to create a small trunk for the bush. Take a small piece of conditioned clay and roll it out into a small sausage shape. Next use a small ball tool to add line of texture to the trunk.
Step 2
Create the roots for the trunk by rolling out smaller pieces of brown polymer clay and cutting these so they’re about a quarter of the size of the trunk. Attach these to the trunk using a ball tool.
Step 3
Use a brown oil pastel and a small soft brush to add colour and shading to the shrub’s roots and trunk. Then pop this section of the model in the oven, following the clay manufacturer’s baking instructions.
Step 4
Combine a small piece of light green and dark green shade of polymer clay and roll these out separately to form two sausage shapes. Next, twist them together but don’t blend the colours completely.
Chop a centimetre off the end of the twisted clay and roll this into a ball. Attach the ball to the cured trunk with liquid polymer clay – this will be the green part of your tree.
Step 5
Use a needle tool or a needle to break off small pieces of polymer from the clay that is still in the twisted sausage shape. Attach the tiny pieces of clay to the ball on top of the trunk. In this step you’re creating the leaf texture for the tree.
Step 6
When you’ve covered the entire ball with the leaf texture, bake the whole thing according to the polymer clay manufacturer’s instructions. Remove from the oven and let the clay cool and you’re done!
In the video below, the crafter uses this technique to create tress that are about 2cm tall. The same technique can be used for making bushes and shrubs for dollhouses or box rooms, all you have to do is make the trunk shorter:
If you want a bush or shrub that’s even cuter, you could craft the leaves individually using polymer clay leaf cane technique described in this video below. This will allow you to create lots of tiny leaves to create a cute, cartoon-like shrub.
The great thing about mini modelling is that you can usually adapt techniques from different scales and projects and use these as a basis for developing your own mini creations!
6 Hacks For Making Miniature Model Bushes And Hedges
You want some quick foliage without spending a tonne of money? Try these tricks below…
1. Swap scatter for tea leaves
Scatter isn’t super expensive (about £2.50 for 50g) but if you’re only making a couple of bushes, why not try tea leaves instead? All you need is a base, like the coconut fibre of synthetic wool techniques above, and then glue on painted tea leaves instead of scatter. Depending on the type of tea you use, you may not even need to paint the leaves!
2. Swap scatter for saw dust
If you have pets then pinch some of their sawdust to create scatter. You’ll need to paint it green before applying but it’s a super cheap way to create one off bushes and hedges.
3. Use air dry clay to add flowers to shrubs
If you want to add colour to your miniature shrubs, then air dry clay dipped in scatter and painted will brighten up the shrubbery.
Just roll a small piece of clay into a ball and dip it in glue. Next coat it in scatter (or sawdust – another great substitute for scatter!) and once the glue is dry, paint it in whatever colour you choose. You can then insert it into your bush using a painted cocktail stick.
You can see this technique in action in the video below:
3. Use garden twine to create a tiny realistic shrub
Using items you already have in your house is a great way to start mii modelling without paying a load of money. Garden twine can be used to create the structure of miniature shrubbery.
All you need to do is unwind the end fibres of the rope so they look like little branches. Next, apply wood glue to the end of the length of rope you’re working with to prevent it fraying further and then cut the twine just below the glue.
Paint the twine brown and apply grass fibres to the twine and you’re done!
You can view a tutorial for how to do this super easy hack here:
4. Use a real shrub to create a miniature shrub
This has to be the best way to make an ultra realistic miniature shrub – just use a tiny branch from your garden or the park and use this as the structure. You’ll need to add poly fibre (you can buy this from model railway shops) or use very thin synthetic wool and top this off with coarse turf, again, you’ll find this in modelling shops.
The video below shows how to make model trees from bits of branches, but there’s no reason why you can’t apply this technique to smaller shrubs:
5. Chop up an old sponge to create miniature folidge
Bits of old sponge make very convincing shrubs and bushes when painted green and with scatter applied on top. You could even pop a sponge in a blender and paint it green to create clumps of vegetation in your dollhouse garden.
Find out how to do this with this handy tutorial:
6. Cover the bases of your bushes with scatter
If you’ve gone to all the trouble of making a realistic looking bush, then the illusion will be ruined if you can see a huge dollop of glue sticking it to your. Give your shrub the finishing touch with scatter or woodland floor covering.
Where To Buy Miniature Bushes And Shrubs
It’s always satisfying to create your own miniatures, but if you’re not much into modelling you can always buy some.
If you’re working to a 1:12 scale then dollhouse specialists Melody Jane supply a range of bushes that are super cute and great value. This set of four shrubs are versatile enough to look right at home in a Victorian dollhouse or a contemporary DIY miniature kit.
Etsy is always a good place to find unique dollhouse accessories and there are loads of options for miniature bushes, shrubs and hedges.
This tiny miniature evergreen planted in a urn is ideal for adding some smart topiary to your dollhouse. You can either use this on a 24:1 scale as a topiary plant or a table plant on a 12:1 scale. Either way the attention to detail is stunning. You can buy this handmade plant and urn from 4hala on Etsy.
If you want a shrub that can be used either as a topiary bush or to create a miniature forest scene then these miniature spring bushes by CalamityKreations on Etsy are perfect. They’re about 3 inches tall so can work as bushes or tall trees, depending on the scale you’re working to.
