Foliage, natural base enhancing, creative thinking and kitchen raiding

Often you see miniatures in contests like golden daemon or iron painter having a kind of awe around them that impresses you. Often this is done by exceptional painting skill but in an area where lots of people have quite matching skills you’ll notice the winners often have a very nice and decorative base. I will not go into all of the subjects of dressing up your base, but what I will look into is the way natural bases are made up.
I am currently working on a jungle themed army and thus I shall use this as an example of how to create realistic looking bases that give you the edge over your peers without making it too difficult.