im now at that part of the layout construction to where you need turf or grass i was wondering is it possible to make some of your own turf that will last a long time??
Dyed sawdust used to be the inexpensive stand-by. You could get it in (bright) green for grass and a sort of reddish-brown for dirt. Life Like sold it by the bag. I looked through the scenery section of the Walthers catalog and found sawdust and real dirt for sale by Highball Products, but it doesn't seem inexpensive. If you have a table saw, you can make little boards out of big ones, thereby producing your own sawdust. :D You can use local dirt, too, but you should strain and sterilize it.
OldTimer
You can use flocking to make grass but the flocking guns are expensive, but you can make one out of a 12DC ionizer sold at auto parts stores google the how to...
I've seen layouts that people had used fake or Faux fur for patches of tall grass and weeds that looked really good, I know theres a couple stuffed animals om my girls room that will be skinned when they out grow them.
NM