Main Plants Page

Overview

This section is growing (no pun intended!).

To match the scale of the trains, most of the plants need to have miniature leaves and are not big.

Groundcover needs to be slow growing and keep low. Picking aggresive plants is a common mistake and it becomes very difficult to get it out of track, so be forwarned!

For miniature trees, you actually want bonsai, very slow growing dwarf species that lend themselves to representing miniature trees and bushes.

There are sub pages on plants that are organized by the appearance of the plant or the use of the plants. The links to the sub pages are below:

Trees - Cedar

Trees - Cypress

Trees - Juniper

Trees - Pine

Trees - Spruce

Trees - Misc

Groundcovers - Mints

Groundcovers - Mosses

Groundcovers - Sedums

Groundcovers - Thymes

Groundcovers - Misc

Bonsai tips and supplies

First, I am no way a bonsai expert, just learning, but with the goals of maintaining miniature plants outdoors.

I decided to put all my plants in standard 6" pots. I have drip irrigation that just swings out of the way, and I pull the pot from the ground to work on it. This has several advantages:

• keeps the roots contained
• easy to move plants to different places
• easy to pull out to trim on a table
• easy to re-orient the plant

There is a nursery here that sells small plants suitable for bonsai, and they cost about $10-$15 each, much better than buying a mature bonsai!

You will nees some tools, basically small cutters and you will need some supplies, namely the copper or aluminum wire that will be used to control the shape of the "tree limbs"

I'm going to try getting stuff from http://www.bonsaioutlet.com/ but will update as I go.

Pest control

• Vinegar can be used to destroy ant trails. Without clear trails, the ants will get confused and may stay outside for a while. You can use it diluted with water or straight.
• Cinnamon and black pepper are both increasingly being used in garden and indoor insect control. You can try dusting the outdoor nests with either of these spices. Cinnamon is more beneficial as a natural barrier to stop them from coming in -- it's most effective when you find the source of where the ants are coming in.
• Add borax to sugar. Many people believe that you should use a 50-50 concentration, however, ultimately the goal is to have the ants bring borax back to their nests. Starting with a lower concentration such as 5% or 10% borax to sugar and gradually increasing it to 40%-50% will allow the ants to have more time to bring more back. The mixture should be placed where you see the ants or on the ant trails.
• Baby powder or talcum powder is not appreciated by these bugs. The theory is if you dust the ants and the trail, they’ll stop coming.
• Liquid soap diluted with water is an easy way to wipe out your pests while not harming your people. When used outside as a spray, you'll want to dilute the soap (such as Dr. Bronner's Organic Castile Soap) -- roughly 1 or 2 tablespoons per quart of water -- to kill the pests but not your plants.
• Bay leaves, cloves, and cayenne pepper have long been used for ant control. Try putting one of these at their entry point, and in drawers, shelves, etc., where the ants are going, to prevent them from coming in.
• Peppermint can be sprayed around your home's perimeter and at ant entry points. This will deter them from coming inside.