Yeah, vedsten's edit is very very sexy (which reminds me, will you have my tiled babies?)
fil: Please do try and edit. Though vedsten's edit is great, it surely isn't complete, as vedsten himself mentions. Study the example he's given you, work on it yourself as well. It'd be a great learning experience, even if you don't finish an edit. Vertical contrast, yes, but something else as well: the grass doesn't seem to match with the cliff. It seems to be below the jutting rocks, which shouldn't be completely true. An edit on that would be crucial as well.
As for the tree, do what vedsten said: break it up. Break the leaves up into bunches of leaves, and compose the trunk one internode at a time. It'd be better than trying to do it all at once.
Best of luck.