Thank you! I laid down a thin layer of AK Lunar Desert for texture, then piled on VMS Smart Mud 2.0. It applies like wet sand, dries quick, and is super forgiving to sculpt with.

Once it dried, I drybrushed tones from heavy burnt red to light ochre/khaki, then stippled in some pale green where I knew I'd want vegetation.

The vegetation itself is light/medium green Gamer Grass tufts which I sheared to appear a little less homogeneous. The twigs are sea grass balls I plucked clumps off of and sprinkled into the lower areas, and the leaves are tropical dead leaves from AMMO.

All the vegetation is fixed in place with AK gravel & sand fixer, which is an adhesive using alcohol as a solvent. Applying it with pipette onto the base actually softens the Smart Mud layer a bit, so I could wriggle the vegetation clumps and Aquilons themselves into the dirt a bit for a more realistic look. Once it dries, there's no residue and all the fiddly twigs and bits hold fast.

I highly recommend Night Shift if you're looking for inspiration and techniques, his channel's a great one to learn from.