Back in the '60s a regular contributor to Model Railroader magazine wrote an article on making "pine" trees. His name was Jack Work and I always referred to his technique as Jack Work trees. He used balsa wood dowels, tapered and scraped with a razor saw to simulate bark, painted with a bit a silver paint in grimy black, then used asparagus fern soaked in green food dye and a glycerin and water mix as a preservative. Then stuck into holes drilled in to the balsa trunk.
Some have lasted me 50 years.
Pete
