Faux plants are God’s gift to the non-green-thumbs of the world. And faux trees are getting more and more realistic looking which is good news for me because I believe every room needs a plant, a tree or two….but somehow “Water-plants-Wednesday” escapes me. That being said – when faux trees arrive, usually they come in a smaller weighted pot – that are both hideous and helpful. That small pot can fit into most baskets, pots and planters. And so today I am sharing how to pot those faux trees and make them look photoshoot worthy.
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Here is the faux olive tree that I got last year and never finished potting. See how tiny that base is compared to the top? Some bases are smaller than others. I find that the smaller bases can do a great job of weighting the tree down and some do not. Usually when I spread out the branches, I find that the trees with a large ‘spread’ of branches get off balance more easily. In this case, the olive tree was off slightly and would tip if shifted so I wanted to add a bit more weight.
Enter Goodwill.
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Goodwill and other thrift stores usually have plenty of weights that are old, cracked and super cheap. I found a round weight for this project for $1.91. I also found some hand weights for any future potting project I may need to have weighted down.
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The weight isn’t absolutely needed but I like adding it because my kids end up throwing socks and balls and random stuffed animals so nothing is safe.
You will also need other items….
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A basket or planter or large pot is needed. I think it looks best when the width of the basket is at least half as wide as the tree OR more than 1/4 the height of the tree. I described how I pick the size of the basket or planter here….
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Once you pick your planter or basket, it’s time to make that tree look like it naturally grew there…because obviously a faux tree naturally grew right there in the living room in a basket 🙂 I use a whole bunch of plastic bags (bubble wrap, paper, or cardboard will do), a pair of scissors, a glue gun, and some flat moss.
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Make sure the weight fits in the bottom of your pot first.
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If it does fit, grab your glue gun and put a whole bunch of hot glue on the face of it.
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Then stick your pot to the glue and allow that to dry.
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This heavier weighted tree is going to make it not top heavy but we also need to make sure that it doesn’t tilt inside the pot. Oh did I mention? You need to put the weighted plant inside the black pot and then inside the basket.
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I smashed most of the plastic bags around the little pot and bigger pot. I didn’t have any black plastic bags otherwise I would have used those on the outside of the black pot.
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I cover even the original tree pot with plastic bags. You want the slope to be from the tree trunk down to the outside.
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Next we are gonna put the moss on top of everything. I bought my sheet moss at Hobby Lobby (use that 40% off coupon!) and it is cut easily with scissors. You want to cut it so that it covers the entire top of the basket with a small overlap. Then cut a wavy line into the center. In the very center I cut an X shape.
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Slide the tree trunk into that X and then lay the moss flat around the top of the basket. The wavy line you can overlap.
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Mine needed a bit more stuffing so I added even more plastic bags under the moss.
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Once it looked fuller, it was time to get that seam flat and flush. I peeled off the paper backing near the seam so that it looked even more natural. Then I put hot glue right at the edge so that it could stay put.
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After that I tuck the edges around the sides and slide it in between the basket and the plastic bags.
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Bada boom bada bing!
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And that is how I pot my faux trees to make them look natural and grounded in any planter or pot! And the best part?! I can’t kill it and it will continue to look good year after year!
That being said – here is the link to the moss I used and some really nice affordable basket finds and other large faux plants that are GREAT. I linked the olive tree below that I used in this tutorial and I own both fig trees that I linked below. Can not recommend them enough and I can’t wait to show you more ways to use faux plants in your home!