Why Plant a Tree? The first question to ask when selecting a tree or group of trees for a given site is, what is the purpose of their being planted? Trees can serve various functions, and the list of "job descriptions" of trees in an urban environment is long. In some cases, their job may be to provide privacy or to screen an unpleasant site such as a landfill from public view; in other cases, people may want trees just for their shade or as adornments for their yards. Sometimes trees are used to direct pedestrian or road traffic. Trees and large shrubs can be used for noise reduction by those living close to motorways or train lines. Trees also help prevent erosion, reduce storm-water runoff, and improve air and water quality.

Three four-tiled trees.

To add a little realism to your forests, I have made the Unleashed willow and sycamore trees different shapes and slightly smaller (cloned from the original game birch), while making the original game willow tree much larger. I always felt it was far too small in relation to the game and the other trees. These take up four tiles, rather than the nine tiles the UL versions do, and you can place them close to each other, unlike the normal UL ones.

5 "Place Anywhere" Mixed Ivy pieces

 

 

 

 

With kind permission of Hanna at SimSisters, these sectional ivy pieces are based on mixed ivy images to enable you to mix 'n' match all your sectional ivy a bit more realistically.

Each piece is cloned from the single tiled Sim Freaks / STP Carly rug, and is backless.

The set pictured right has also been mixed with ivy images from Juniper Sun and Mermaid Cove to enable you to mix'n'match your ivy from all these sources in a realistically wild way. They are also wider than one tile at each side so as to make all the ivy pieces tileable. They don't look good in inner corners though.

"Place Anywhere" Large Ivy set

These lovely ivy sections would not be possible without the extremely kind permission of Hanna at SimSisters - a site which although no longer updating has some extremely beautiful and well crafted items for your game. I can guarantee that a visit will have you downloading everything in sight!

My sectional ivy pieces are cloned from a rug, but Hanna's original ivy object uses a painting so, unlike mine, you will not need to use the transparent floor if using hers upstairs. Why not mix and match the two? Again, my three pieces of ivy are backless, mix 'n' match and can be placed anywhere, and being cloned from a single tiled rug you also have the advantage of still being able to place pictures, hanging plants, lights, burglar alarms etc. on the same tile you have put the ivy on. Finally, try selling it after midnight and see what delights it brings.

"Place Anywhere" Ivy set (close zoom size as inset picture).

The five pieces of ivy are backless, mix 'n' match and can be placed anywhere, being cloned from the freely cloneable single tiled rug from Sim Freaks. You can place it on a second floor by using the transparent floor tile included in this zip for which I am very grateful to Caro of Caro's Sim Kagen for permission to include it. Because it is cloned from the rug, you also have the advantage of still being able to place pictures, hanging plants, lights, burglar alarms etc. on the same tile you have put the ivy on. Finally, try selling it after midnight and see what delights it brings.

These next four and the following trees marked "Hillside" are all cloned from a one-tiled topiary, and can therefore go on slopes as well as flat ground.  Please note though that they may well bleed through walls if placed too close.  Each zip contains the four trees pictured - you can't really tell from the pictures but in each pairing, one tree is smaller and a slightly different shape & shade than the other to give some variety & realism to your landscaping.

Hillside Silver Birch & Copper Beech Pack zip

Hillside Tree Pack - 2 sycamore & 2 generic

I took the generic tree image used here (see below) from a free 3d mesh site in the hope that one day I will be able to master my 3d program.

For the moment, these trees using the image alone look very good when mixed in with other hillside trees.

 

 

zip Hillside Walnut & Rowan pack

I'm not sure whether I like the Walnut or not. I took the pictures of leaves from my own walnut tree and tried to siminise it as best as possible. Real walnut trees spread out far more than these, but game limitations wouldn't allow a one tile tree to be so big. It looks best in the middle of a group of mixed trees in my opinion. There is a lighted version of the Winter Walnut in the Marius theme.
For the rowan, again, I took pictures from my own rowan (Mountain Ash) tree and tried to siminise it as best as possible. The berries were so beautiful, but sadly my siminised versions just look splodgy in comparison. But again they are good in groups of mixed trees, especially Autumn trees.

 

 

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Hillside 6 Pine Pack

Five trees in cages.

There is a running joke in my family which started a good few years ago now when while walking through a field, one of my little stepdaughters saw a little sapling surrounded by a big cage to protect it from grazing animals. When she asked me why the tree was in the cage, I told her in all seriousness that the tree was dangerous and the cage was to protect us from it. And now they are grown, I suppose I shouldn't complain when they call me a wicked stepmother *sigh*.

Urban forests contribute to the economic vitality and stability of a community by increasing property values. Most people think that neighborhoods with trees are attractive places to live. The values of houses in these neighborhoods are usually higher than those of comparable houses in neighborhoods without trees (USDA Forest Service). Neighborhood green spaces typically increase the value of properties located nearby and developers may profit when they receive a higher price for a property with trees.

In many instances, careful preservation of existing trees during construction may actually cost less than clearing the land. The cost of preserving trees, such as the extra time needed for planning and using special techniques to protect the trees, should be looked at in relation to the immediate and long-term benefits of increased property values. Mature trees are especially valuable in areas where old housing or buildings have lost value - this is important to keeping downtown neighbourhoods vital.

Five pebble ground cover sets.

>A GUID conflict was found and in August of 2015 files were re cloned with new GUIDs. This zip was effected by that repair.

Based on the River Pebbles ground cover from Persimmon Grove, here are five different colourways of pebbles for all your pebbly needs. No expansion packs are required for these items.
Coloured gravels were used in 18th century France to create designs on the surface of the ground – in effect partitioning the ground, often into geometric/symmetrical patterns.

Red or brown gravel was used to mark out circles, rectangles or squares enclosed by low hedges, with white or cream gravel to create paths outside of the hedging. In this way, very simple gardens created a high impact – with patches of contrasting colour covering the ground, separated by low green hedging.

Thanks to the plethora of garden design programmes on today's TV, using gravel or pebbles is currently very trendy, with landscape designers using them as mulches, in mosaics and paving, and to surface paths and driveways. There are even pebble specialists that supply a large range of local and imported stones, in a range of different textures and colours.

Pebbles have also traditionally been used in driveways as the crunch of car tyres on gravel warns the householder in advance of their coming guests. Using pebbles in the less visible areas close to the house also makes for good security practice as it is nigh on impossible for a possible intruder to walk quietly on them - and with smaller gravels, virtually impossible to avoid leaving footprints.

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Five Rocks & Ferns groundcovers

>A GUID conflict was found and in August of 2015 files were re cloned with new GUIDs. This zip was effected by that repair.

Based on the Mossy Log & Fern groundcover from Persimmon Grove, here are five different sets of rocks and ferns for your forest floors.

These are incredibly versatile - they can be placed on water or floor tiles, and even on top of each other as in the picture here.

They also have four rotations with two different views for maximum versatility - here the same piece is placed next to another, one forward facing, one reversed.

 

You will find these under Build Mode / Plants. No expansion pack is required for these items!
Place Anywhere foliage set

I was struck by the loveliness of the New Orleans styled fences and arches in Unleashed, but felt they needed a little more authenticity. The humidity in New Orleans is ideal for growing foliage plants, and many structures using this style of ironwork are covered in ferns, ivies and other lush green exotics.

These four completely mix'n'match balcony foliage sets would not be possible for your game without the help of Koromo at Persimmon Grove who not only allowed me to butcher some of the beautiful plants from there once again but also fixed my z buffers for me, along with a couple of other tweaks to make the foliage look as realistic as possible.

These four foliage groups (two on each wall pictured above) can be used anywhere you think is appropriate. Cloned from the two tiled ground cover rug from Persimmon Grove they never need watering, won't stop you putting up lights, burglar alarms etc., are backless, and your sims can walk right through them. Mix and match with the other "Place Anywhere" foliage items - they can be placed on top of each other as many times as you like to give the depth of cover you want. They are relatively backless so they won't interfere with gameplay.

On the left, you can see the effect achieved when they are placed closer together. The more you experiment with placing them on top of each other completely or one tile at a time, the more you get realistically random foliage.
Place Anywhere foliage set 2 & pedestal set

Two foliage groups as above, but this time without base plants. Again, as these were cloned from the two tiled grape vine rug object from Persimmon Grove they never need watering, won't stop you putting up lights, burglar alarms etc., are backless, and your sims can walk right through them. Mix and match with the other "Place Anywhere" foliage items - they can be placed on top of each other as many times as you like to give the depth of cover you want. They are backless so they won't interfere with gameplay - but if you do want a back view, you can place one on top of the other and rotate so you see one from either angle.

These come with two large pedestals containing various overgrown greenery - including ivy from Sim Sisters & a fern from Persimmon Grove.

"No Need To Water" climbing flowers on trellis

Five different trellisses with climbing flowers which will never need watering. That is because, once again, they are cloned from the single tiled Sim Freaks rug, and are backless so as not to interfere with gameplay.

 

 

Sectional Wisteria

Cloned from the one tiled ground cover rug from Persimmon Grove they never need watering, won't stop you putting up lights, burglar alarms etc., can be placed anywhere, and your sims can walk right through them.

The images are from a mixture of Persimmon Grove's grapevines and the gorgeous original wisteria from Vicarious Living (now, sadly, closed) among other non-sim images and are not cloneable without prior permission from Persimmon Grove.

Hacked Sycamore kit

A normal version and two autumnal versions of the Sycamore tree, these are a special variant "Platanus occidentalis hackus Captainii" - as they were hacked by Captain to be able to go on top of a floor tile!

With many thanks to Captain of the (sadly now defunct) object Hacker's Resource and Mega Sims, these items are cloneable so long as his hacking skills are credited :D

The zips here may contain several different items. Unzip to a temporary storage folder, and you must move the files accordingly as below:

    • Files ending in .flr to C:\Program Files\Maxis\The Sims\GameData\Floors
    • Files ending in .iff to C:\Program Files\Maxis\The Sims\GameData\UserObjects

If you would like to redesign or recolour objects from the Landscaping set, please do! So long as you provide credit on your site and in the object description with a link back to Architectural Supplies.

Please, no paysites (unless the item is free and remains free) or sites where to get the item, membership is mandatory and/or restricted (except Yahoo groups and the forums listed on my front page).

Items I have used from other sites have their own terms - see these below.

 

All links to the original site where I have made the recolour from are given. See notes on home page.