Foliage for my set

I wanted to make lots of plants and trees to create a jungle for my set, but i did not want to use real plants as I wanted it to be nostalgic of childhood, being creative and making things from card, felt and foam. I looked in a tree book to research the different types of leaves that you may find in a tropical climate and cut out millions of them in card, felt, foam and different patterned fabric. I also tried to make the tree trunks out of foam but that was unsuccessful. They were contorted and I found it difficult to make them stick together. Also once i added leaves they became top heavy and would not stand up. Although I would prefer to not to use real plants I found that twigs and sticks from my garden were much more effective than foam and made really good tree trunks. I think the fake leaves added onto real sticks look great as it provides a good contrast.