Artificial Plants & Trees

The range spans single stems from around 20 centimetres, small potted plants at 20 to 55 centimetres, hanging baskets and trailing vines up to 260 centimetres, potted floor specimens between 100 and 180 centimetres, and clipped topiary balls from 28 to 48 centimetres. Portable buxus hedge panels sit at the larger end, in heights from 50 to 200 centimetres. Entry stems begin near $8.95 and large specimen trees reach around $299.95.

They describe the same products, and plenty of Australians search for fake plants when they mean exactly what is in this range. Designer Plants writes artificial in its own copy because the finish on a RealTex specimen, with colour shifting leaf by leaf and real touch surfaces on the bamboo and dracaena forms, is a long way from what the word fake usually brings to mind. The term you searched makes no difference to what you receive.

All of them, since none of the foliage depends on light. A living room usually takes one floor specimen of 120 to 180 centimetres beside the sofa or in the corner a lamp cannot reach, then two or three smaller plants of 20 to 50 centimetres on shelving and the coffee table. Dark corners behind a television or beside a staircase are the positions living plants fail in first, and they are where this range earns its place.

Only the pieces marked UV resistant. UVTex holds the inhibitor inside the leaf itself, so colour survives a summer of direct sun instead of washing out over a few months. Indoor-only specimens lighten quickly on an exposed balcony. Within this range the topiary balls, the ornamental grasses and the portable buxus hedging are outdoor-rated, while most of the indoor tree and orchid selection is not.

A tree carries its foliage up on a visible trunk or cane and starts at roughly one metre. Plants covers everything without that vertical structure, from a 20 centimetre potted rosemary through to a 90 centimetre cordyline. To fill vertical space, browse artificial trees. To dress surfaces and low corners, the potted and small plant ranges are the better starting point.

Yes. The SafeTex standard governs the materials used, and with no soil, pollen or sap involved, a 20 centimetre potted plant pushed off a low shelf leaves nothing to clean up and sets off no allergies. That combination is why the range turns up in nurseries, childcare rooms and homes with cats that treat living foliage as food.

Indoors, a light dusting every few weeks covers it. Hanging baskets and trailing vines collect the most, and the easiest approach is to lift them down and shake them out before wiping. Outdoor-rated pieces such as topiary balls and ornamental grasses can go under a hose. Keep solvent-based cleaners well away from the foliage.

Older specimens can be returned through the Designer Plants artificial greenery recycling programme rather than sent to landfill, which is worth knowing if a fit-out is being refreshed and a large number of pieces are coming out at once. Call 1800 617 341 to arrange a return for larger quantities.