How we built a real forest indoors
When the remarkable Josh Dampf Events asks us to build a magical forest installation inside of the Kansas Country Club — you say yes! And then get busy finding the trees to make it happen.
Below is a sneak peek of all the steps it took to bring a real live forest to life for the 150th Anniversary of the Kansas City Country Club. This feat was made possible thanks to the tremendous help of the Jirak Family Farm in Cummings, Kansas; Landers Vision; Collective X; and a team of Floraloomers.
Scout out a forest
First, we headed out to the country near Atchison, Kansas. We hopped in a gator and scouted out the rolling hills of the Jirak Family Farm to see which trees would work for the project. We even stopped by their apple orchard on the ride to pick some snacks to-go while we scouted.
Measure Space
We took measurements at the Kansas City Country Club of all the spaces where the trees would be “growing” to ensure they fit perfectly in every corner and nook.
Chop Trees
With the help of Mark Jirak and his sons, we selected the perfect trees for the forest (about 20!) based on our measurements and went to town with a chainsaw. Did someone say, TIMBER!!!???
Gather trees and branches
We needed a mix of larger trunks and skinny trees for a natural forest look. We also collected branches that we would later attach to the trunks to look like they were “growing” off of them.
Transport trees
A whole lotta muscle went into loading up this truck as Mark, his sons, and the Floraloom team loaded up trees and branches to be transported back to our Kansas City warehouse where the trees would be reconstructed for install. We may have left the farm with a few battle scars in the process!
Organize by size
We arrived at Landers Vision, our warehouse where we unloaded the Floraloom truck and organized the trees by size in order to begin reconstructing the trees to create a realistic forest.
Attach trees to stands
Safety first! To ensure the trees would stand upright inside the Kansas City Country Club, we built sturdy stands as a base to hold the tree trunks, and weighed them down with sandbags on site for extra support.
Attach Branches
Once the trunks were secured in the stands, we got busy selecting the the most realistic branches that fit each tree trunk. Mother Nature makes it looks so easy! Once we remove nature from its natural environment, it’s a puzzle to artfully reconstruct trees to look like the branches are actually “growing” out of the trunks.
Install in space
To transport the trees from the warehouse to the Kansas City Country Club, we labeled each tree and the multiple branches that were connected with that tree. This allowed us to know exactly which area they would be installed at because dimensions were key to making everything fit perfectly once we arrived on site! Before transporting, the trees and branches were disassembled and wrapped carefully at the warehouse, then loaded on a truck, and then reassembled on site. Thankfully no chandeliers were damaged in the process!
Forage wild grasses
We spent quite a bit of time foraging wild grasses and dried foliage to design around the trees to cover up the mechanics of the wooden bases. These natural elements created a look as if the trees were actually “growing” inside the Country Club.
Add grasses
The fabulous Floraloom team went to town skillfully designing with all of the foraged materials using nature as reference on how they would actually grow in the wild!
Add fresh leaves to branches
We brought in miles of fresh smliex vine from Alabama to green up the barren branches! Equipped with ladders, multiple Floraloom teams made their way around each of the rooms, carefully designing smilex all around the branches to make it looks as if the leaves were actually “growing” off the branches!
Voilà!
After a good sweeping, and adding the final touches of stones, moss, ferns, and even bringing in evergreen trees, the forest came to life!
Check out the Floraloom pictures below and this video to see all of the behind-the-scenes action!
