A method for identifying modeling characteristics of items of foliage on a piece of real property so that the property's foliage can be accurately modeled on a site model portion of an architectural model. The characteristics determined for each item of foliage is its location (in longitude and latitude within the property), type (evergreen tree, deciduous tree, shrub), and height. The determinations of characteristics are carried out via automated analysis (including spectral analysis) of satellite imagery or aerial imagery of the selected piece of real property. The height information and type information is used to select appropriate miniature foliage to model each identified foliage item, and the location information is used to place the selected miniature foliage accurately on the site model.