Ok let me know if you like any of these ideas, [ not a finished build ].
Cheyenne

Pines or firs.



Or your basic autumn leafless trees.




Sorry about the stuffed Rattlesnake, my son wanted it attacking the castle [ come on dad it would look cool, a seven yr. old thing ]

Cheyenne, I love the idea of having the tree coming up from the "keep" like that. In fact i have been waiting for an opportunity to do something like that for a little while. Here are a couple pics I snapped on the way home from Kansas City. I think the deciduous tree would be the way to go, if it would be a fall or summer dio. Either way you go its a great idea.

Cheers Kevin

Oops forgot the pics!! :-) Here they are

Nice as these trees look, it would be unlikely that a tree would be growing on the second floor. A tree like this this needs roots, big roots. Howabout putting the tree on the ground, perhaps in front of the door.
As for the walls, I think it would look good if you cover at least one part completely in Ivy, completely overgrown from top to bottom. Ivy (and moss) will go everywhere, and a thick layer of it will convey the ruin look rather than battledamage.
If you want it to look like a "unused" ruin, perhaps a gate type grill in front of the door, to keep people out... You could partialy cover that in Ivy aswel... Maybe a sign at the steps, " Eintrit Verboten" or such..

Cheers
Henk

The pine trees are more likely . Conifers are fast growers and thier roots are more dexterous (?) and can adapt over the rocks. I like the small one in the 1st picture, the bigger one is nice in volume but the trunk is to skinny. If you do keep them work on adding some roots sticking out and around the base.

What he said. Having to tackle stormwater drains/pipes that have been blocked, we often find that pines grow the densest root systems and I often am surprised at their voracity and distance covered... That and bamboo, but I'll only stick to what's applicable :-)
cheers
Brad

Hi Kevin, thanks, those pics. are great , what are they grain silos or storage hoohas ?
Henk, yeah the forrest type oak, elm, larch whatever won't really do, the pine fir type is the answer.
Being from south Jersey I should be ashamed, a pine tree would start growing in the back of your pick-up truck if enough leafs and soil debris was in it. [ which they have ]
Hi Scott thanks, they're basically just thrown on there for ideas till something is chosen, then I'll make them more realistic.
Bradley, thanks, as I statsd earlier in this post I should be ashamed, living in the Pines, left alone and uncleared an 8' scrub pine would grow in your house gutters.
Cheyenne

Cheyenne,

The two times I have been in the UK I spent much of my time visiting and studying the architecture of many castels. This by no means says I am an expert... Personally I am going a different direction here than the majority of people. I like the deciduous tree better, it reminds me more of what I have seen. More importantly I would consider the local of your castel keep, and base my decision on that. I like the conifirs but I like the decidous decisivly better... My two cents... If you would like I would be happy to send you some reference of the types of things I refer too. I have a number of photos of castels with all kinds of things growing out of them but not one have conifers...

Paul

This is strange indeed!
I visited two castles this summer in the islands here in Greece and both had a lot of Conifers(pine) trees around them and in them and on them!
I suppose it depends on the place the castle was build!If it was on high altitude ground the conifers would be most certain!If it was on forest like ground then all kinds of trees and dicidious will probably exist there!
That's what i think!
Nevertheless i like the dicidious you saw us here more!The look like they attach to the whole set better!
Well which ever you decide they'll be fine!
Cheers and happy building!

I didn't mean to imply that conifers would be excluded, just that the location of the castel keep should be the defining factor... Either way BOTH would look great! I did take it upon myself to send you a few photos to your home e-mail address. What you will see more often, is a varity of plant life, including fern, vines and moss.

You're right there Paul, the location is very important, as is the history of the ruin. In this case the ruin is next to the river, in Germany, which means that both conifers and decidious trees are o.k. As for the history part, it depends on the 'use' of the building. If the ruin has been left to deteriote for some few hundred years, very little of the structure will be remaining/ visible... What is left of the walls will in most cases be completely overgrown with moss/climbing plants and there will be trees if they have rooted. If however the ruin has been 'maitained' as a feature, the growed will have been kept undercontrol, with at least the open spaces mowed and cleared (grass and trees).
Part of the ruin might have even be in use, as a tourist office or such. In that case the erea would been quit well maintained.

I think that in Cheyennes dio, as the ruin is in a German village next to a river, the choice would be between totally overgrown, which looks dramatic but will hide all that outstanding building work, or semi- maitained, with one or two trees and a nice layer of Ivy over at least one wall, still showing of most of the structure.

As an aside, I fear that unless you make it look like a totally overgrown ruin, most casual viewers will probably still not realise that it's a historical ruin, and will comment that for such amount of damage there should be more rubbel..... :-)

What ever Cheyenne decides on, judging by the bridge (and the rest of the dio...) it will come out great at any rate.

Cheers
Henk

OK that did it no friggin pines, firs, or dicid....., decsd......, disded....., regular trees.
I'm gonna put that friggin killer rabbit from Monty Python and the Holy Grail in the dam thing........... just kidding.
Paul, Henk, George, I'm going for Oct. - Nov. 1944 in either Belg., Ger., or Lux. and calling the dio " Prelude to Autumn Mist ".
The keep will actually be at the two levels of the build from dock/pier area to the patio area of the beergarden.
From listening to you guys and Paul thanks for the e-mail pics and Henk thanks in advance on the p.m. ,how about a compromise with regular trees on the sides of the keep, pines, firs in and around the turret and a nice stand of small Birchs in the turret by the crumbly front wall and window ? I think the white in the Birchs will set off the rest of the keep build.
By the way this is a most splendid way to build a project, with posting back and forth ideas way too much fun, and very constructive, also when done and nobody likes it I can always blame you guys ..... Bart did it !!! l.o.l.
Cheyenne
Oh yeah by the way I like and had planned on putting ivy, moss and such as Henk earlier suggested, to give it a time worn aged effect, along with his idea on the windlass and chain thingie in the keeps turret as was used long ago as a toll river type deal.

One of my favourite Castles ( not that it means to much, I loke them all.... :-) is Bouillon in Belgium. An impossing setting on the ridge of a pass, it commands the river and pass with ease.

Niiiccee, well there is some of my inspiration for future builds, that castle is just too cool !!!!
Cheyenne

Ok - Ok - no trees - what about "Shrrrrubery"? Add a shrub, or maybe the French Cow in a catipult!

I like the positioning. The whole set of buildings is very cohesive.

What happened to the snake attacking the castle? I thought that was the coolest part.


Honestly this is going to an awesome diorama. The amount of detail is awesome. Can't wait to see it done.....with or without the snake. haha :-)

Hi Mate
I like the idea of the trees and i would go with the pine tree and i would have say roots protruding from the base of the castle walls,like henks idea of the ivy and the moss and the bugger off sign in german.
Love the rattle snake.
Cheers Chris

I think pine tree is good . All look perfect