One of my favorite combinations here in the east is the smooth grey bark of American beech, mixed with the graceful, wispy foliage of eastern hemlock in a rolling topography. It’s a common sight around here. Trying to mimic this in miniature using American beech would be totally out of scale. A more convincing tree would be Chinese elm. Leaf scale, similar bark and fall color would be more in line. Some people don’t like the substitution but I’m for believability.