The Advantages of Artificial Plants

Artificial plants are a fantastic way to brighten up your home, they’re realistic, low maintenance and come in a wide variety of styles. Artificial plants used to be used in commercial buildings and public places such as offices, airports and leisure centres, but these is no longer the case. The main reason for artifical plants creeping in to our domestic interiors is down to the reduction of the cost. As manufacturing methods have improved the time taken to create these synthetic plants has reduced and that time saving has been passed on to Mr / Mrs Joe / Jo Public.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love natural and I love having plants in the house, but there are always some rooms that are not suitable for plants. For example, there is the old wives tale about not having plants in the bedroom, how true this is I don’t know but the theory is that they give out carbon dioxide at night - if you sleep in an air tight room this may be a problem. You may also have a room that doesn’t have window in it at all, such as bathrooms and en-suites. In the case of either of these situations and artificial plant is your answer, it doesn’t need light and it certainly doesn’t give out any harmful gasses.

There are many other reasons why artificial house plants could be ideal for your situation. If you like to have plants on your window sill but there’s a radiator directly beneath it. This is going to present a problem for most plants as the heat – ironically – in the winter will not do it much good at all. You may be frequently away from home for extended periods of time and will not be able to water your plants, an artificial plant could be your answer. You may suffer from asthma or hayfever, an artificial plant will not irritate your allergy.

Perhaps you are buying or are moving in to a new home or rented home and you have no experience of looking after plants, perhaps you have no interest in plants other than the fact that they look nice and have heard that they are good for the fen shui of your home. You will be able to get any style of plant you want that won’t require any care whatsoever other than a dust every so often. Your artificial plant won’t cost the earth either.

As well as artificial plants you can also get artificial ‘trees’. When I say trees I basically mean large plants, the sort that are over 4ft high. If you have ever owned a plant this size you will know that they can be difficult to care for. Such a large plant demands a lot from the small pot that it lives in and striking the balance between too much and too little water can be difficult. It’s not only water that these large plants need, they also need feeding frequently to replace the nutrients that are taken out of the soil. Larger plants also tend to grown very quickly and you have to go through the heartbreak of ‘hacking’ it back and then look at it for a couple of month looking sorry for its self. Needless to say you’d experience none of these problems with an artificial plant.

There used to be a stigma about artificial plant, and really this was down to the fact that on closer inspection they looked unrealistic and… well artificial. As methods of producing the synthetic house plants have been developed they have become more realistic, if you don’t believe me just have a look at the plants in your local shopping mall, 90% of them will be artificial and you would never have noticed. The really good artificial plants will actually have real bark or real wood stems which helps noticeable in convincing people that they are real. As a side note, if the plant that you are buying is made from real wood then make sure that it is from a sustainable source. The leaves are usually made out of polyester or a similar material and are coated in a ‘laquer’ that makes them feel real to touch and protects the colours of the leaves from sunlight damage.

This artificial technology is not just reserved for house plants you can get artitificial hanging baskets and topiary plants. Both of these are notoriously high maintenance and needy. Getting ‘fake’ ones can save you valuable time and money.

You will get the most choice of artificial house plants online as it seems there are no retail stores that have a massive collection to browse. Online you will find large and small plants that will suit your budget and home.