Building Desert Palm Groves

October 2, 2025 | Kreighton Long | Black Powder, Bolt Action, Gaming, Miniature Games, Models and Painting, Pike & Shotte, Saga, Star Wars Legion, Test of Honour, Test of Honour, Tutorial, Warlord Games, Warlords of Erehwon

By Kreighton Long

After completing my North African Italians I committed to building a set of desert terrain for them to fight in.  In addition to the standard dwellings and walls I wanted to build palm groves to add some soft cover and greenery to the table.  While wandering around a Michaels store I came across bags of palm trees on sale and decided the time to start the palm groves was now.

Brainstorming how I wanted to proceed I noticed that the bases on the bottom of the store bought trees were not permanently attached to the rest of the tree and could be popped off revealing a peg at the bottom of the tree trunk.

Two of my brain cells synapsed and I thought of building palm grove footprints with holes drilled into it to set the palm trees into for gaming.  Leaving the trees removable would have two benefits: ease of storage and transport as well as to facilitate units moving through them during a game.

I completed a test piece, and satisfied with the results, put together a batch using some of my last reserves of MDF organic shapes terrain bases that I purchased from Father and Son Gaming before they closed down.

I started by finding the right sized holes to drill into the base. After some trial and error I found that 1/8″ was the most appropriate size for the trees I was using.

 

Then I added a layer of 1:1 mix of hobby paint and PVA glue under sand.

 

After the glue dried I layered hobby paint over the sand. I started with a base coat of Apple Barrel Black, then a thorough drybrush of Apple Barrel Nutmeg Brown, and finally slightly less thorough dry brushing of Delta Creative Trail Tan. These are the same colors I used for my desert bases but you can use what ever colors will best match your table and bases.

 

Next I added a mix of Army Painter Swamp and Winter tufts.

 

Insert the trees and you are ready to go.

 

With this method the trees are removable for easier storage.

 

As well as to make room for infantry and vehicles to move through the terrain footprint.

 

Happy painting!