making conifers out of scouring pads

[Biased turkey]

You'll need:
barbecue sticks
scotchbrite scouring pads

First ( and the most important and delicate operation ) is to separate the scouring pad because it is made of 3 layers.
With your hands ( scissors gives a too regular shape ) roughly cut the layers in pieces of various diameters size.
( I use various Canadian coins as a template )

Please use a dust mask for those 2 operations.

Cut the barbecue stick ( 2.5 " is Ok for N scale ) , sharpen the tip and paint it a dark gray color.

Apply some Elmer's glue on the stick and insert the scotchbrite "disks" in decreasing diameters on it .
And voila ... your conifer is ready.

You can spray the tree with Woodland Scenics scenic cement and sprinkle some mixed turf on it.

Jacques