HOW TO MAKE A FAUX PLANT LOOK REAL

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Let’s talk about fake plants. Some people love them and some people loath them! I personally prefer real plants but sometimes you might want to put a plant in an area of your home that just doesn’t get enough sunlight to keep the dang thing alive! In that case, faux plants are the way to go. Now I’m super picky about fake plants. The leaves and branches have to look and feel ridiculously real in order for me to buy them.

When it comes to styling the plant in your home, I see most people putting their faux plant in a woven basket and calling it a day. But can I tell you a little secret? The number one way I figure out if a plant is real or fake, isn’t by looking at the leaves; it’s by looking at the base of the plant. Most faux plants come with some sort of non decorative pot. Some non decorative pots have hardened faux dirt while others have moss or straw as a substitute for soil. If you put this fake pot in a planter or woven basket as is, you’ll be able to see pretty clearly that there isn’t any real soil…i.e. it’s not planted and therefore it’s fake. I’ve also seen blankets stuffed in the basket to cover up the fake base but that also usually means that the plant is fake because you don’t see too many real plants with blankets stuffed over the real soil.

Now I want to clarify, if you have a situation like this in your home, please know that it is totally ok to do that! No judgement from me! But if you want to give the illusion that your faux plant is actually real, I’ve got a tip on how to do that using materials you probably already have in your house.

Materials Needed:

• Pot or Planter

• Faux Plant

• Cardboard

• Newspaper

• Wood Blocks (optional)

• Scissors/Knife

• Pencil

• Soil

Now you could go the super easy route and just dump a lot of dirt in the pot and completely bury the base of your faux plant. But if you ever want to swap out that pot or plant, it will be difficult to remove the plant once the dirt dries out. Trust me, I’ve done that before and it was like chipping away at a cement block. The method I’m about to show you will make it much easier to remove the plant down the road.

First things first, grab your faux plant and a planter/pot. I’m using a faux snake plant from Nearly Natural, which looks and feels incredibly real, and the Vera Planter from my own shop!

Lay a sheet of cardboard on the floor and place your pot on the cardboard upside down. Trace a circle around the pot.

Using a scissors or a sharp knife, cut along the line. (You may need to cut slightly inside the line in order for the cardboard to fit inside the pot) Once it’s cut out, cut the circle in half and then cut another small circle in the middle to accommodate for the base of the leaves/stem.

To make sure the inside circle (as shown in the last image above) is the right diameter, measure the base of your faux plant to ensure the cardboard will fit snug around it.

It’s time to put your faux plant in the pot. If you’re working with a deep pot like me, your faux plant may sit too low in the pot. In that case, simply place something in the bottom of your pot for your plant to sit on. I had several scrap pieces of wood lying around that worked well but you can use whatever you can find that you don’t mind burying under your plant.

Place your faux plant in the pot and stuff newspaper in along the edges. Then fit your cardboard in around the faux plant and tape the seams if necessary.

Start covering the cardboard with dirt until it is completely covered.

Doesn’t it look so much more realistic now that it appears to be planted in real soil? It’s magic I tell ya! 😉 By the way, if you’re looking for suggestions on fake plants that actually look real, check out my list of faux plants that look and feel convincingly real.

Ok one last thing, if you give this “planting” trick a try, snap a photo and tag me (@nadine_stay) on Instagram. I’d love to see how you try this in your home!

SOURCES:

Faux Snake Plant | White Pot/Planter