Agree with JCD, try some static plant models (i.e. not veg/SolidGrowth) for close-ups.
A lot of FREE Xfrog models in Vue readable formats are available here:

http://xfrog.com/2011/01/130-free-xfrogplants-now-available/

For the texture/material in the render here, try changing the mapping mode to "Faces" if it is a bitmapped texture. Otherwise play with the functions.

Lars "bigbraader"