Where to buy trees, bushes.... miniatures to make a Sabana

Hi all,

I've been collecting animals for a few years and I love doing that , I have over 100 animals now from different brands such as Schleich, Papo or Safari but I have then on the top of several shelves which is not ideal.

After a lot of fighting I have finally convinced my wife to let me use one of our garden's sheds to have there a mini animal sanctuary I have build a couple of wood platforms there so now it's time to start creating an ecosystem where my animals can live :) I have animals from the Savannah, forest, north pole, desert... so I though starting buying stuff that could help me to build those ecosystems

My first idea is to buy fake grass and try to find tree miniatures and other miniatures that could help me creating those places. I've been looking for an Acacia tree miniature (around 12" / 30cm) which is the typical tree you find in the Savannah but I haven't found anything.

anyone knows any online shop or physical shop in London where I could find that kind of stuff?

Thank you and I promise to upload pictures once my project is finished

Welcome on forum!
Your project seems exciting! :)
Schleich and CollectA have some trees that you can use, you can see an acacia from Schleich in this link!
You can also visit [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] Good luck!

Hi, Uma ! Wellcome here

Good that your wife agreed that your garden shed should contain mini-ecosystems, - much, much more interesting than pots and tools and old bikes ?

It seems that people are not very eager to show their  greenery in the dedicated topic, but as Roger wrote, Schleich had an acasia tree. You may still find it on net auctions like Ebay or such .
Actually I often use Ebay searches to get an idea of what is out there  

Or search in hobby shops, - sometimes shops selling equipment for fish tanks have interesting stuff too 

Or, if you want, you may make some yourself, - look for instance [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
More : [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]  made by Phil.

I look very much forward to see the result !
It would be so much fun if we may see pictures and read comments of how you get on, - but I know that it is quite time consuming

Thank you both.

Glad that I have found a place with more animal figures lovers!! Sometime people look at me with strange faces when I tell them what I collect animals  

I'm really exited and can't wait to start creating my animal's new home!!

Thanks Roger for the link. That Acacia could do the job but I'm interested to know how detailed is it. I'm looking for well detailed trees which looks are almost real like these examples
tree1
Tree2

(I know they are bonsai's replicas but those are the only realistic trees miniatures I have been able to find with the size around 12" / 30cm I'm looking for.

Wow Suzanne! I have checked those home made trees and they are amazing!! I doubt very much I could do something like that myself..I'm quite useless when it comes to that kind of jobs.
Very good idea to check in pet shops!! I'm pretty sure I can find cool stuff there to use in my project. I'll use real rocks, sand ... so I'd like all the elements there to look as realistic as possible.

My plan is to go this weekend to buy the fake grass and start planning the distribution of the animals on the platform. I think I'll start with the Savannah and forest/jungle and then I'll do the antarctic and desert.

I'll post pictures of the progress so I can have your feedback

Thanks

Hello Uma, welcome here

Great idea, I am very curious how it will evolve

I have some tips:

1: You also can search for items that are meant for model trains or doll houses.
The trees will be small, but rocks, flowers and plants will be in scale I think :)
2: Visit a garden center. They sell decorative nature things most of the time, like logs, stones/rocks and fake plants Also holidays are coming, so fake snow for your arctic area can be fond there.
3: Maybe Playmobil has some plants you like. They also have trees, but they aren't as detailed as Schleich or an other model animal brand.
4: Susanne already mentioned Fish-pet shops. The decoration for fishtanks are so beautiful and very realistic. I even get tempted to get some when I'm walking past them XD
5: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] is a good site with also many plants and flowers you could use. (And also a lot of nice animals )

That is it, I hope it was useful :3 Hope to see some photos soon

Here are models in the US that I have bought. They are not as big as I would like them to be and they are expensive, but they are the only ones I have ever found. They are also on E-bay.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Welcome here :)

Thanks all for the warm welcome!!

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], there is a big garden centre close to where I live so I think I'll follow your advise and see what they have there. I'm pretty sure at least I can find some cure rocks to build a waterfall!
I used to love playing with Playmobil when I was a kid but I think their toys are not as realistic as for example the Schleich figures so they wouldn't look right.

Thank you for the website SeanieP, the trees are perfect if it wasn't because of  the size... I've calculated that they have to be around 11-12" tall to fit with my animals size. The schleich acacia is a good example which is made to fit with the schleich animals and is 12"tall.
I've found it at a good price  http://www.enchanted-wood.co.uk/umbrella-acacia-tree.ir?cName=action-toys-category-wildlife-schleich-wildlifehere but unfortunately is out of stock!!
Being honest, I's still not totally convince with the level of realism of that tree anyway.

I have taken some pictures of my homeless animals to share with you
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[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

It is great to see how your collection looks like.
I see it will grow a lot!

Hello and welcome.

I like your collection. and I like that you are going to make a home for them.

I look forward to seeing your progress.

Good luck shopping in the garden center
Nice collection how have, I think you sanctuary will be full of nice animals when it is done

Beautyful collection you have

Many different ones from varous places, - your dioramas are going to be wonderful