# Non-desert mountains



## riderdan (Jan 2, 2014)

Hi all,

I'm planning to add a single mountain to my garden railroad in the Spring. As I've been researching and working on planning, I've noticed that a majority (it seems) of garden railroad mountains that have photos and info online seem to be of the U.S. Southwest/desert variety. This means they can be constructed of reddish-colored concrete over a base and don't need much vegetation.

Unfortunately, I'm modeling a (fictional) European line and need more "European" looking mountains--which means plants on the lower slopes, at least. I know I could just pile up 6 cubic yards of topsoil, but I don't think that it would stand up to the wind/rain erosion here in Kansas. Besides, if I make a 5-foot pile I'll have the highest point in Kansas in my backyard 

Anyone have ideas (or photos, or information) about creating a non-Southwestern mountain or a way to quickly stabilize a newly-created hill ?


----------



## mickey (Jan 28, 2009)

This winter/spring I'm going to do a mixed with vegetation. I plan to do the stucco mesh and cement real rocks I've collected from the mountains around our cabin in New Mexico, but I'm planning on imbeding some things like PVC and plant pots mixed within the mesh so I can fill them with soil and have drainage. Not sure how it will turn out but I'm gonna give it a shot and see.


----------



## riderdan (Jan 2, 2014)

mickey said:


> This winter/spring I'm going to do a mixed with vegetation. I plan to do the stucco mesh and cement real rocks I've collected from the mountains around our cabin in New Mexico, but I'm planning on imbeding some things like PVC and plant pots mixed within the mesh so I can fill them with soil and have drainage. Not sure how it will turn out but I'm gonna give it a shot and see.


I'd thought about something similar (pots embedded in a stucco/concrete shell) but I'd have to pull the plants each winter, as potted plants don't usually make it outdoors through the Midwest winter. Be sure and let us know how it turns out.


----------



## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

> about creating a non-Southwestern mountain


 I think here in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast we don't have to 'create' mountains - we spend more time getting rid of, tunnelling under or going round them.

As you intimate that Kansas doesn't have many hills, then I see your problem. Most of the mountains around here are made from piles of rocks. The soil collects in the cervices between the rocks, and rock-garden type plants grow in the same gaps.


----------



## MikeMcL (Apr 25, 2013)

I used cheap plastic trash cans from the dollar store and drilled holes in the bottom. Attached them to support, and used the hard shell method.


----------



## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

I had an idea this afternoon while I was out sitting and watching my train run.

I think that if you don't make the sides too steep and cover a well compacted pile of dirt with weed barrier cloth it might work. The cloth will let some water through, but most will run down the outside. Many years ago I use the weed barrier cloth to cover my layout in Denver. It was flat, and I covered it with decomposed granite. Much like crusher fines, only I could shovel it into my car from a road cut. Only cost was for gas.

Where I wanted plants, I cut a hole in the cloth and planted a plant in the hole. It may take awhile but ground covers should cover the cloth. Small trees and shrubs can be planted the same way.

The small plant in the corner was put in a hole cut into the weed barrier.

Chuck


----------



## riderdan (Jan 2, 2014)

MikeMcL said:


> I used cheap plastic trash cans from the dollar store and drilled holes in the bottom. Attached them to support, and used the hard shell method.


Mike, I don't know if that would work here in Kansas--the "above ground" pots would, I think, still get below freezing even if protected by the "shell" of the mountain. But I'm saving the idea for when we move out of the flatlands


----------



## MikeMcL (Apr 25, 2013)

riderdan said:


> Mike, I don't know if that would work here in Kansas--the "above ground" pots would, I think, still get below freezing even if protected by the "shell" of the mountain. But I'm saving the idea for when we move out of the flatlands


Yep, you're right about the freeze, but you could still place removable containers into the permanent receptacles.


----------



## reeveha (Jan 2, 2008)

Hey Dan,

Might look at this over on LSC: http://www.largescalecentral.com/forums/topic/22533/making-mountains-the-rayon-way

If you use this method, you might be able to sink some pockets to do do plantings.

Regards,

Herb


----------



## CliffyJ (Apr 29, 2009)

I wonder if anyone has tried this method of ground foliage over concrete.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/201209000950


----------



## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

That's a Lame covering now.....


----------



## MikeMcL (Apr 25, 2013)

LOL!!! Lame for sure!


----------



## CHESTERRA (Oct 17, 2012)

I wanted to reconstruct some kind of Berner Oberland and namely Harder mountain and used a technology which is almost the same like in largescalecentral.com, but in my link it it more detailed 
http://familygardentrains.com/primer/rocks_n_cliffs/rocks_n_cliffs.htmFor me the most difficult thing was to paint it correctly and I have to confess I wasn't good at it and didn't sncceed at all. I think I'll try to repaint it. And the last moment I decided to make construction and further maintenance work easier and used artificial Noch plants. Here is Harder.







Here is a small part of my mountain  And I like this mountain found in http://www.lgbtours.de







But the most impressive Alps I have ever seen are here http://gartenbahn-albula.de
More photos of my GRR are in my pinboard http://www.pinterest.com/taarusa/ruza-oberland-my-g-scale


----------



## riderdan (Jan 2, 2014)

CHESTERRA said:


> But the most impressive Alps I have ever seen are here http://gartenbahn-albula.de
> More photos of my GRR are in my pinboard http://www.pinterest.com/taarusa/ruza-oberland-my-g-scale


Wow. Those are very impressive. Thanks for sharing. I've saved a bunch of those pictures for reference when I start constructing the mountain in the spring.


----------



## CHESTERRA (Oct 17, 2012)

I have forgotten to say a few words about plants which can survive in winters even in small pots. As you know here in Russia sometimes we have severe winters down to 40 degrees (celcium) below zero, so, this question was very important for me. For example, the top of my mountain is about 90 cm above the ground level. I planted creeping Jenny Aurea, creeping plox, a daylilly Stella D'Oro and an astilba (the last ones play a role of exotic bushes), all are in small volume of soil, but even under a thin layer of snow they do not make any problems, they are really very winter hardy. I could recommend Sagina subulata and draba, they make a very nice carpet. Anyway, all alpine flowers can suit. About bushes and conifers, you'll have to prune most of them to provide neccessary height and shape, for example, the smallest dwarf conifers as a rule have a round or oval shape, at least I do not know any conifer that do not grow higher than 30-40 cm and look like a tree. I like salix (willow)Boidi very much but it can not be used in any hill, or you will have to provide extra watering, 'cause it likes moisture very much.
And one more tning must be taken into account in order to have mountains with some plants between cliffs which would look like realistic- you'll have to make some optical illusion by planting higher plants on the bottom and lower ones up to the top. If I constructed my mountain now I would do it in this way. Unfortunately when I was building mine I saw The Alps a lot of time but didn't see photos of German or Swiss gartenbahnen and had no idea how to create miniature ones
German GRR http://themt.de (Anlagen) Swiss GRR http://www.boniland.ch/ Swiss Miniature in Lugano (mountains will not knock you out) http://www.swissminiatur.ch A lot of German GRR here http://www.private-gartenbahnen.de/links/xinland_d.php


----------



## CliffyJ (Apr 29, 2009)

Gorgeous work, Chesterra!


----------



## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

A friend of mine has a "mountain" on his layout that I always thought was a mound of dirt with some sort of ground cover that looked like a dense forest. Some time ago, he removed some things from behind it and I discovered it was an evergreen tree (of some sort) that had been "topped" and allowed to spread sideways. It has also over the years, been pressed down with some heavy snowfalls.

I went over today and took some photos of it. The rest of the layout is undergoing some reconstruction, and many items have been put away for the winter so the images are kind of bare, but you can see the "mountain" with some outcroppings of rock, which are just a stack of limestone blocks nestled down into the tree. The 4th photo shows the back side where you can see that it is a tree and not a mound of dirt.


----------



## CliffyJ (Apr 29, 2009)

Good thoughts Semper, thanks for posting that. Looks like a variety of juniper, to my untrained eye.


----------



## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

Juniper is fine with me... My botanical expertise is limited to being able to tell the difference between a weed and a brick.


----------



## CHESTERRA (Oct 17, 2012)

Thank you, CliffyJ!


----------



## denray (Jan 5, 2008)

any container you make if you can make a good sized leg go to the ground.
A plastic pipe or something similiar, if your container is small, place a couple inches of dirt, then fine gravel or sand, so extra water can leave the pot.
I have one 6"x16" box that goes all the way to the ground, around 14" deep, works like the ground, I filled that one with good black soil and sand mixture.


----------



## wigginsn (Jan 9, 2008)

I'm going to guess Semper's tree as Juniper Procumbens Nana for those interested.

Only because I had several the same on my last layout - even down to the dead bits 

I trained a couple of branches vertically with bamboo stakes and trimmed them up as trees, bonsai (ish) style. The do well in pots too.

Cheers
Neil


----------



## CHESTERRA (Oct 17, 2012)

wigginsn, do you still have any photos or could you explain in details? I can not understand if you let it grow as a ground cover, I just don't have a clear picture of your juniper.


----------



## wigginsn (Jan 9, 2008)

Hi Chesterra,

The plant I had was the spreading juniper above. I took 1 of the new shoots and tied it to a stake and kept tying it vertically as it grew.

This pic is it's second summer, the white stake in the background










Eventually it got to almost 3 feet high, and I started training another shoot the same way, after about 4 years. Original branch is directly behind the new one.










Later on I started to trim and train the bigger branch to look more tree like - but couldn't find any good pics - sorry.

Hope this helps
Cheers
Neil


----------



## CHESTERRA (Oct 17, 2012)

Wow, your RR looks great. And it's a perfect idea to use a juniper in such a way. Thank your for sharing, I ll'try to do the same.


----------



## CHESTERRA (Oct 17, 2012)

And one more mountain (cute German GRR http://www.ferienhaus-cramer.de/gartenbahn/bilder_2014.htm). Lovely plants, especialy different ground covers


----------



## CHESTERRA (Oct 17, 2012)

wigginsn, I've just understood that it's your thread New Trestle. Your RR is fabuluos, mountains look very natural, you have excellent plants and, of course, I'm impressed by your trestle. And I wonder what ground cover is here (among conifers)?


----------



## wigginsn (Jan 9, 2008)

The massed green groundcover is white thyme, the fern like one is Leptinella Squalida 'Platts Black'.

Both happily invasive in climate zone 9..

Cheers
Neil


----------



## CHESTERRA (Oct 17, 2012)

Thank you, Neil! I found both, very beautiful and really very small, but are not suitable for our climate. Unfortunately.


----------

