Maintaining a real plant and keeping it alive doesn’t happen by accident. It’s a skill. It’s knowledge. It’s time and effort, and not everyone has the time and effort to invest. An artificial plant, fortunately, is just as pretty, looks just as real, and requires no upkeep.

If you’re nervous about buying an artificial plant like a faux sansevieria plant, thinking it won’t appear real enough, let us reassure you. There are a number of ways to make faux plants look realistic and alive.

There are also many plants that are artificial and which resemble the real thing down to microscopic detail. What you buy is just as important as what you do with it. Here are a few tips on how to create that sense of realism around your fake plants.

Don’t Buy Plastic-Looking Plants

It all starts with the quality of the faux plants and trees in front of you. Cheap plastic plants are going to look like cheap plastic. A premium artificial plant will look more lifelike. It’s worth it to invest a little more and to get the detail you want.

Buy A High-Quality Planter

You can make a planter out of anything. A cheap or plastic planter will draw attention to how cheap a setup looks. Ditch that. Find a planter made from natural materials or something bold, artistic, and unique.

Make Them Have A Visual Impact

When we use minimalism to present an artificial plant as its own single piece rather than simply including them with lots of other household decor, it makes a plant feel more natural inside a home. Try it. Find a faux plant that looks real on its own and which carries that instantaneous impact.

Maintain Them In A Natural Shape

A lot of fake plants have bendable stems and can be made into different shapes. Try a more natural shape. As you will come to find out, the more you try to make your faux plant appear natural, the more ‘real’ it will look like.

Hide Their Weaknesses in Low Light

Most of the time, we recommend placing faux plants inside spaces that mimic the realistic conditions real plants use to flourish. If you find you have an artificial plant that looks old or that doesn’t quite capture a true-to-life resemblance, set it somewhere where the plant can hide a bit. Think low-light, a corner area, a bookshelf, or anywhere that can partially obscure it.

Mix In Real Plants

This is quite the trick. Assuming you have your premium detailed artificial plants already in hand, mixing them in with real plants tricks the eye into thinking a whole display is alive. Consider elements like rocks, woods, moss, and other things you might find in nature.

Put It Inside Dirt

A plant grows in dirt. Take that cue. Put your artificial plant in the most realistic picture. A spathiphyllum leaf plant, for example, is always in dirt and so it only makes sense its artificial counterpart would be as well.

Check Your Fake Plant Regularly

Dust can be a problem for faux plants. Dust doesn’t gather on real plants. Be sure to check any artificial plants at least once per week for dust. If you notice them looking a little dust-covered, gently wipe them with a microfiber cloth or use compressed air.

Look At the Trunk

The trunk gives it away. Every time. Artificial plants with plastic trunks aren’t worth it. Find a faux plant with a real trunk, made from organic material. This will help give your plant a rustic and natural look.


Buy premium artificial plants in Europe from Artiplanto. See the best in real faux plants, with attention-grabbing plants in all shapes and sizes.

Andrew Lu