/3/ - 3DCG

Amateur question: what would be the best way to make a tree or a small plant with minimal polys? I tried using a 2d image plane of a leaf texture and a particle system with it, but most of them clip too heavily into the branch and each other (way too noticeable). Modelling a leaf and manually placing them looks too artificial even changing the transforms.

Is it heavily a matter of getting the right texture and enough particles to hide the clipping?