Different Methods for Creating Tree Set Pieces

Tree Set Piece Options

Over the years, I’ve tried a variety of methods for creating tree set pieces.  In my last show, Jungle Book, I actually employed all of them.  Depending on how much time, money, and space you have, these are all great choices for implementing trees into your set.

1. Air Duct Trees

This has to be my favorite method for creating trees theaters with a fly space.  It is the is the quickest and easiest, providing the biggest wow factor.  Air Duct trees are by far some of the the easiest trees I’ve ever assembled.  However, you will need a fly system with battens or some other method for hanging. Air duct comes in various lengths and diameters. If you need the trees to be longer than what the available lengths, simply zip tie a couple of air ducts together. We used three 8″ 50 lbs Capacity Zip Ties to hang each of our 12″ diameter trees.

Before hanging, remove the interior wire structure and lay the exterior foil layer flat on a drop cloth.  Paint the exterior brown and let dry.  Then you can dry brush a lighter brown over the top for texture.  Once dry, replace the interior wire structure.

Next zip tie them to your battens. Puncture  a small hole through the duct work using a utility knife, and then make sure to run your zip ties around a at least two of the metal wires that spiral all the way up and down the duct, which helps it keep its shape.  If you don’t do this, the plastic will rip from the weight of the duct.  The duct is actually not that heavy, but you will need the added security.

For the tops, we cut up a hunting blind and zip tied that to our batten as well at the top of the “tree”.    Another great thing about these trees is that they don’t take up much room for storage.  We stack them up like slinkies in 32 gallon plastic trash bags, label them, and put them in one of our loft storage areas for the next time that we need them.

      

2. 2″x4″ Trees

To create the 2″x4″ Trees, we started with a 4′ by 4′ platform (created by cutting a 4′ x 8′ sheet of 1″ plywood in half and framing up the bottom of it using 8′ 2″x4″).  We put casters on the platform for easy maneuverability.  Next we used a 12′ long 2″x4″ and attached it upright in the middle of the 2″x4″ using smaller pieces of 2″x4″ cut at an angle in order to stabilize the tree.

Next, we attached varying lengths of 1″x3″ for the limbs.  Then we attached chicken wire around the trunk of the tree using a staple gun in order to add dimension.  This was followed by stapling broken down cardboard boxes around the chicken wire.  We also stapled cardboard around the limbs, making sure that they were wider near the trunk.  For the roots around the base of the tree, we shaped chicken wire and stapled  them into place.

After this, we covered the roots and all of our seams using papier mache (about 4″ wide strips of newspaper dipped in a 50/50 water/glue mixture).  Once the tree was completely covered, we painted it brown and then dry brushed it with a cream color for dimension.

3. Chicken Wire Trees

For chicken wire trees, I unrolled as much chicken wire as I needeed from the roll and bent it into a trunk shape and wired it together.

The first time that we used this method, we had several leftover plastic tablecloths from a recent dessert theater, so we attached them using floral wire.  Just a word of warning, after we painted them, the paint tended to flake off when we moved them around, but unless you’re using an unusual color tablecloth, it didn’t really deter from the look.

The next time that we tried this method, we used large sheets of newspaper and papier mached them onto the

chicken wire, and it worked great.

To hang them, we used 8″ 50 lbs Capacity Zip Ties.

For storage, we mashed the trees flat and rolled them up and put them in a 32 gallon trash bag.  Then we labeled the bag so that we’d be able to easily find them the next time that we needed them.

4. Lauan Tree

This was one of the first types of trees that I ever created.  I cut out the facade of a tree from 1/8″ Lauan Plywood including limbs and attached it to a 2″x4″ frame (just like the one mentioned in #1).  The limbs were stabilized with strips of 1″x3″ attached to the frame.  Next, I swiped a bunch of limbs from an artificial ficus tree and staple gunned them onto the luan.  Then we painted the trunk.

5. Artificial Trees

The simplest thing that I’ve done for trees onstage is purchasing or borrowing artificial trees such as ficus trees and then disguising the base either with fabric or by placing another piece of scenery (bush or rock) in front of the base.  The downside to using artificial trees is the height of the trees if they are the only option that you’re considering.  They can be advantageous if you are trying to achieve a variety of tree heights though.

6. Bamboo

Another simple method is including actual trees in your design.  When doing so, keep them FAR away from your stage lights to avoid a fire hazard.  We stood them on the outside of our apron by simply placing them in some narrow openings that we had available to us.  We also gaffed some of them lengthwise along the apron to look like low bushes and to add depth.  You can also secure them with pipe fasteners.

Be sure to add these in close to your show opening so that you won’t have to clean up the shedding leaves.  You should have 1 weeks worth of use from fresh cut bamboo before it becomes unusable.  I would not use foliage other than bamboo because of how quickly it will dry out.  Once your show closes, you could strip the bamboo and just keep the poles to use for future shows as props, fences, etc.

In Conclusion

I hope that one of these methods of making tree set pieces will work as well for you as it did for me.  If you have found an interesting way of making trees for your productions, we would love to hear from you.

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