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Joanne Chen is an editor on the home-decor team. She edits articles on couches, lamps, plants, and anything else that makes a house a home. pp hollow corrugated sheet
We’ve added the StyleWell 4ft Faux Olive Tree from Home Depot as a new pick. We’ve also eliminated the Threshold Large Fiddle Leaf Potted Plant because it is no longer widely available.
Lush fiddle-leaf figs. Beachy palms. In the forest of faux, all is possible, or so it seems. As it turns out, even the prettiest options online tend to be underwhelming in real life.
Still, if you’re willing to manage expectations, we found a few good options for a faux money tree, a fiddle-leaf fig, an olive tree, a bird of paradise, a palm tree, and a monstera.
I’m the senior editor on the home-decor team, and I am constantly on the hunt, both personally and professionally, for decor items that add warmth and joy to the home. For this guide:
I came into this project with high hopes—experts I interviewed and all the blogs I read convinced me that fake plants had come a long way in recent years. And yet so far I haven’t been blown away by my options.
Prices vary widely for both real trees and artificial trees (depending on the type and size of a tree, the quality, and where you shop), so it’s hard to make direct comparisons. A live 3-gallon fiddle-leaf fig tree (between 2 and 3 feet tall) at Home Depot sells for about $90, and it has the potential to grow to around 7 feet. At Bloomscape, a live 3- to 4-foot fiddle-leaf fig is about $265 (including a $35 pot). As for fake trees, the 5-foot fiddle-leaf fig from Nearly Natural costs roughly $80 to $100 at Home Depot; at West Elm, a fake tree of a similar size normally costs around $250.
Generally speaking, pricier artificial trees look more authentic than cheaper trees. But even though a $200 fake tree might look slightly more convincing than a $100 option, it’s not necessarily twice as nice. Being preternaturally frugal, I set out to find a few reasonably priced artificial trees (under $200 or, if possible, under $100) that I’d proudly display in my home. Anything more than that seemed too steep, especially for something that’s a pain to return. This list is by no means comprehensive, but I’ll add to it as I continue shopping.
For each tree, I noted how it was shipped—whether it came out of the box misshaped, whether it was easy to straighten out, whether it had odd smells. I scrutinized and tugged at the trunk, twigs, and leaves, and I compared them with the real thing online or in real life. I bent the twigs and branches to note how pliable they are, so you can arrange them according to preference. I viewed them in sunlight and a dark corner, and I pored over the fine print on return policies.
Because large plants, both real and fake, can be pricey, it’s especially important to be honest with yourself. Are you a serial plant killer? Is your heart set on a particular Instagram darling with needs you and your home climate can’t provide? Can you make peace with the inconvenient truth that only real things can look and feel absolutely real? If you answered yes to one or more of these, then you might consider getting a faux plant. Also, if you are allergic or have a child or pet who might endanger a real plant (or vice versa), then an inorganic nature-surrogate may be worth considering.
But maybe you get enjoyment and satisfaction out of nurturing greenery—watering a plant just so, persevering through the wilty-leafed rough patches, placing it wherever the light is right (even if that’s not some corner dead space or on a bookshelf you’re trying to spruce up), and letting your home environment (as opposed to home-decor blogs) dictate the type of plant you buy. If that’s you, then you’ll probably prefer a real plant.
You have to drop some real money for this fake money tree. But it’s flush with leaves and looks welcoming and realistic, even from a short distance.
For those with a flexible budget, the 5-foot CB2 Faux Potted Money Plant’s looks outweigh its faults. If you have a CB2 nearby, you can check out the tree in a store before you plunk down all that cash.
The leaves can pass as real. That’s the advantage of smaller leaves. “The larger the leaf, the more visible the errors. Also, our eyes are trained to recognize the difference between fibrous materials and plastics,” said Marc Hachadourian, director of glasshouse horticulture at the New York Botanical Garden at the time of our interview. The leaves on the CB2 faux money tree (Pachira aquatica) had some nice detailing and a slight sheen, similar to what you’d find in a live version.
They’re plentiful, too. Though not 100% lifelike overall, this plant did bring an otherwise sterile-looking showroom to life.
The feel of the leaves isn’t quite right. It reminded me of the texture of those tear-resistant packing envelopes. And, as with the leaves of most fake plants, they don’t bend as fluidly as the real thing.
The trunk looked plasticky. But only if you look really closely.
It’s not cheap. The price of the CB2 money plant is at the very high end of what I’d pay for an artificial tree. (A beautiful smaller, live version costs about $170 at Bloomscape.) Legend has it that planting a money tree in your home will bring you good luck—but no word on the effects of the faux variety. And shipping is a hefty $90, but CB2 does offer the option of free pickup from its stores.
Expect to spend time dusting this tree. Like other full, small-leafed trees (real or fake), the CB2 money tree has more surface area for dust to fall on.
The leaves look and feel synthetic when scrutinized up close. But give it some distance, and this full fiddle-leaf fig can liven up an otherwise sterile-looking room.
The popularity of this Instagram-favorite variety may have long peaked, but I’m still fond of the finicky fiddle-leaf fig tree (Ficus lyrata), which hails from the tropical rainforests of West Africa. To my eye, the Nearly Natural 54″ Fiddle Leaf Artificial Tree (Real Touch) is just full enough, and endearingly, it looks straight out of The Lorax.
The tops of the leaves look quite alive. This is the case even if you’re less than a foot away—especially with light streaming through them. When I showed the Nearly Natural artificial fiddle-leaf fig over Zoom to Rebekah Gross, then a senior account and project manager at Plantshed, she noted the adequate detailing and the shiny finish, which resemble the waxy look of a real fiddle-leaf fig.
It’s relatively inexpensive. The cost of the Nearly Natural fiddle-leaf fig is usually less than or about half the price of a 5-foot option at West Elm or Artiplanto (the latter of which kept toppling over and had a strong chemical smell out of the box). If you’re spending lots of up-close time with this plant, it may bum you out as much as browning leaves on a real plant. But we have yet to find a large-size fiddle-leaf that truly looks and feels real to us.
The leaves, up close, don’t completely look right. As we found with most big-leafed plants we inspected (including the Faux Potted Fiddle Leaf Fig Tree from West Elm), the underside of the leaves on the Nearly Natural tree looks completely flat and artificial when sunshine isn’t streaming through them.
Nor do they feel right. The Nearly Natural tree’s “real touch” claim seems to refer to the real feel of a child’s inflatable raft, rather than that of a tropical leaf. Annoyingly, the manufacturer’s site calls its plants “silk.” Yet its FAQ page admits—rather vaguely—that even though artificial plants today evolved from actual silk plants, most are composed of “high quality, man-made materials.”
It has imperfections. A couple of leaves on the tree we received directly from Nearly Natural had tiny holes in them (were they meant to look like those bitten by bugs?), and a couple of the leaf veins peeled off easily from the tips. We reached out to Nearly Natural to see if we got a dud specimen or if the features were intentional, but we never received an explanation. Because of our lackluster experience with Nearly Natural’s site, we recommend ordering offerings from this company on Amazon for better replacement options.
The tiny plastic pot is also a sure sign of a fake. You may want to find a nicer one to place your tree in.
We could do without the fake olives. The wispy leaves are a convincing dupe of the real thing, however, and create a charming rustic effect.
Many faux olive trees are often too pricey, too sparse, or too … faux. The StyleWell 4ft Faux Olive Tree in White Pot, which we found at Home Depot, has its faults, too. But, for a fraction of the price of a similarly sized olive tree at West Elm, it has a nice shape, with a generous spray of the silver-green leaves that make these trees look so ethereal.
The leaves look alive from a close distance. Subtle veins line the dark-green tops of the leaves, and they fill out the branches in an appealingly generous way.
The trunk and branches look decently realistic, too. They’re slim and slightly gnarled, similar to the smaller Olea europaea trees you might see in real life—though, here, a subtle sheen suggests that they’re indeed artificial.
It comes with a white pot. It’s plastic, not ceramic, but attractive in its simplicity.
Hold the olives, please. They’re too perfect to be convincing. But you can always cut them off.
It has a few fake giveaways. The undersides of the StyleWell olive tree’s leaves are a silver-light-green color, like that of the real thing. But the plasticky midrib (the vein that runs prominently in the center of the leaf) hints at the tree’s synthetic make. If you look closely, you’ll also see slightly ragged (as opposed to clean) leaf edges and an inelegant connection between the two plastic pieces that make up its trunk.
More like a sculptural work of art than a live plant, this take on the bird of paradise features exquisite leaf details and a rather appealing trunk. The return policy is not great, however.
If you prefer stems and leaves that arch as gracefully as they do in real bird of paradise plants, you might be disappointed. But if you’re looking for something satisfyingly sturdy and full, the 3-foot Artiplanto Zapo Artificial Bird of Paradise Potted Plant can liven up an empty wall or forgotten corner.
The leaf detailing is striking. Although, admittedly, the midrib looks plasticky, each leaf as a whole on this version of the sun-loving bird of paradise (Strelitzia reginae) looks almost painted on, even at the underside of the leaf—so you might consider it a work of art. You’ll also find splits, which also exist in nature. “It’s an evolutionary trait that lets wind pass through, making the plant look more like the real thing,” said Vickie Christensen, master gardener at Léon & George.
The stem is pretty attractive, too. Real bark is incorporated at the stem, for an authentic look. The texture, which kind of feels like corn husks, is less off-putting than most.
The leaves lack a sheen. Though the leaves’ texture feels at least somewhat organic, their surface looks matte and lacks the subtle gloss of real-life leaves.
The stems are stiff. It’s almost too hard for them to arch gracefully. (I wedged a football between the stems overnight to coax them apart.) In nature, Christensen said, “The leaves on this plant are large and quite heavy, and keeping them that erect is pretty unrealistic once it gets to this size.”
The return policy is limited. If you’re buying in Canada, you must ship it back within 14 days to get a full refund. The same goes for US customers, but you must pay the return shipping fee, which can get hefty. (The site does not explicitly say this, but an e-chat with customer service confirmed the policy.)
A bird of paradise plant only in name, it lacks the details found in the real thing. Still, its lovely curves and pretty green leaves add style to any space.
West Elm’s Faux Potted Bird of Paradise Plant touts the graceful curves that the Artiplanto Zapo Artificial Bird of Paradise Potted Plant lacks—but it doesn’t have the realistic details.
It has elegant lines and soft arches. Combined with its lush green shade, this plant’s loose and easy looks add a sense of calm and relaxation to its surrounding space.
You don’t have to repot it. Its white plastic container is generously sized and nice enough to look at. (You also have the option of buying the West Elm bird of paradise with an attractive, legit planter, but the combo costs twice as much.)
u shaped plastic edge trim It’s seriously unnatural-looking. The experts we consulted found the West Elm bird of paradise less authentic-looking than the Artiplanto bird of paradise we recommend. It lacks an actual trunk, and up close the leaves have undersides that look more fake than that of the Artiplanto plant, with a texture that reminds me of vinyl stickers.