I'm going to try my hand at a diorama for a local competition. No real experience but I'm just trying my hand at it.

I intend to make it about some elves defending a statue of Galadriel from some orcs. I envision it as a roadside shrine going through the woods.

Now that I've provided context:

What kind of products/techniques do you employ when making a forest floor? I don't need it to be too extreme, but I think something more developed/dense than just grass glued down is in order.

Any advice is appreciated in this endeavor.

Whatever you try, please provide photos!

I've been using tea lately for my ground cover, either loose or open some bags. Depending on what season you are trying for, I've used orange spice for fall, black tea for a nice dark base, etc. Look at what teas you have and open a bag to see how it looks. Spices work well also, if too big, just grind them up.

A caution on teas, when I first used glue to seal it, it was too wet and caused the tea to run somewhat. Easily fixed and I actually used that to my benefit on another project where I had some reddish tea run to look like a blood stained turf.

Do a search for spices here in the onering and you will get some other ideas.

Here are some threads to look at

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=31501&p=402487&hilit=spices#p402487

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=31952&p=408205&hilit=spices#p408205

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"Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer."

Mapper has some great threads on the site. Check out his "Dried Leaves" thread. There are some great photos and links there.

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"Diplomacy is the art of saying 'nice doggie' until you can find a rock." -Will Rogers

I agree with the tips above. In addition, I can recommend these punches:
http://www.greenstuffworld.com/en/101-punches
Either use them on real dried leaves, or painted sheets of paper. Works beautifully and makes some of the nicest miniature leaves I have seen!

Just curious, have you made any progress on this? Problems that we can help you with?

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"Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer."

I can confirm that tea (I usually take it from bags) works perfectly to create a forest ground, and you can even adapt it to the desired season : green tea for spring, something with red or yellow leaves for autumn... By the way, you can make an autumn forest ground "richer" by adding a little bit of tobacco to your tea mix.
And then, to add some "life" to your diorama, you can add a couple rocks there and there - you can find good ones sold as aquarium decorations, or you can just pick up loose pebbles from asphalted roads - , some bushes and thickets made from dried leaves or grass torn to shreds or from pieces of sponge covered with tea leaves... Another thing I like to use is the green moss-like stuff that's sold for Christmas decorations. Wrap it up around little branches you've picked up outside or glue small bundles on the ground of your diorama and it'll look great!

Luke Towan (modeler on youtube just uses leaves off the ground, a little bit of work to scrunch them up nice and small but should do the trick.

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My trade thread
http://www.one-ring.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=25957&p=325932#p325932