![](landscapinglargetheme.jpg)
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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.
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![](newwillowsyca.jpg) |
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.
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![](newmixedivy.jpg) |
5 "Place
Anywhere" Mixed Ivy pieces
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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.
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![](newssivypack.jpg) |
"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.
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"Place
Anywhere" Ivy set (close zoom size as inset picture). ![](winzip.gif)
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.
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![](newivypack.jpg) |
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](winzip.gif)
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![](newsilbircopbee.jpg) |
![](newhillsyca.jpg) |
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.
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For the moment, these trees using the image alone
look very good when mixed in with other hillside trees.
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![](newhilltrees.jpg) |
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Hillside Walnut & Rowan pack
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![](newwalnut.jpg) |
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. |
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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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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*.
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![](newdangeroustrees.jpg) |
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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.
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![](newriverpebs.jpg) |
![](newriverpebs2.jpg) |
Five pebble
ground cover sets.![](winzip.gif)
>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.
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![](newriverpebs5.jpg) |
![](newriverpebs1.jpg) |
![](newriverpebs4.jpg) |
![](newriverpebs3.jpg) |
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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![](newrocksnferns2.jpg) |
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.
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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!
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![](newbalcpack.jpg) |
Place
Anywhere foliage set |
![](newbalc2.jpg) |
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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.
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![](newbalc1.jpg) |
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.
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Place
Anywhere foliage set 2 & pedestal set |
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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.
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![](trellisses.jpg) |
"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.
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Sectional Wisteria
![](winzip.gif)
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.
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![](wisteriakit.jpg) |
![](capsycas.jpg) |
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
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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
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![](../caniclone1.jpg) |
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.
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All links to the
original site where I have made the recolour from are given. See notes
on home page.
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