On decorating outside spaces - a little secret about faux

I can't believe I am going to admit this.  Faux?  Really?  The words conjure up images of cheesy thick plastic flora that look as natural as the figures in It's A Small World at Disney.  (um...hyeah...)  Well, I am now a convert albeit in certain circumstances.  When there's some location that's set back and difficult to "naturally" maintain, the faux option actually works.  Here's how it unfolded for me...

Our house features two built-in flower boxes off the second floor. Trouble is, they are problematic.  Southern exposure with all-day direct sun.  No shade.  Shallow depth for soil.  Hovering just above the "radiating in heat" asphalt shingle roof.  In front of inoperable windows.  Need I go on?  Picture a barren wasteland.  Cue: blowing tumbleweed.  Needless to say, these boxes sat empty for the first five years.

So, I happened to see this picture (at left) in a magazine.  It's of a house similar to ours (well maybe a little bigger) with what looks to be a somewhat similar flower box issue. Notice, however, the box is overflowing with lush flowers.  It got me thinking...

Now I know photo shoots create scenes that can never be maintained in real life.  But this image reminded me that, at a distance, no one can tell if these flowers are real or not.  My theory was since our flower boxes were like the the one in the photo (e.g. troublesome), maybe I could possibly pull off a look that will appear lifelike as well.  No one would need to (immediately) know it was faux.  One that can exist in our blast furnace location!

I set out to see what options were available.  I first scouted the local establishments like Michaels, Home Depot and Lowes.  Um, let's just say again, "bad theme park."  No distance could make these items look good.

I next went online.  Google Search gave me a number of options for outside artificial flowers, but the best ones were:

     - hooksandlattice.com
     - qualitysilkplants.com
     - artificialplantsandtrees.com


The price points will feel initially high.  In my mind, however, if the quality is there (natural looking) and they can last two or three seasons, then the price is basically a wash versus purchasing live plants each year.  (For our situation, we really didn't have a choice. What? A dried stick arrangement?)

I admit I researched the "return policy of all online vendors" before I made a single purchase.  Descriptive copy and owner reviews are good.  Seeing the items in hand is most critical - the ultimate "go/no- go" decision point.  If there was any question, the stuff was going back.

The items arrived and I was pleasantly surprised.  Yes, up close, you could see the plastic stems and joints where two items were "snapped" together.  But standing back only a foot or two, everything looked great.

Now came the process of  figuring out how to arrange them.  There were two objectives:
1.) they look lifelike & natural and
2.) they withstand the elements (wind & rain)
I honestly had this fear of arriving home one day and seeing them cascading down the roof and all over the front lawn.  A little embarrassing - like someone pulling off your clip-on bow tie...

Year one (last year), my approach was too labor intensive.  I climbed up with a bunch of materials.  I carefully placed/arranged each "stem" in a gravel base in each box.  I also hammered nails in strategically placed positions on the front, back and sides of each box.  Fishing line was then criss-crossed throughout the arrangement (within and between stems) as a tight grid to hold everything in place.  It worked.  But, I knew there had to be better way...

Jumping ahead to year two, I wanted to create something easier.  This time, I decided to build an entire framework to just "sit" in the boxes.  (And, why didn't I think of this before?) A simple wood frame.  A little chicken wire.  Some plastic twist ties to hold the stems in place.  Done.  Carry ONLY two items (not the litany of stems, tools, nails, line, etc.) up the ladder in the Spring.  Carry two items down the ladder in the fall.  And, I don't have to re-create the wheel each year!  I guess I could add/swap in a new color, but basically the boxes are ready to go.  I like that.

So, get rid of all your outdated images of outdoor artificial plants.  (Oh yea, the industry calls them "artificial", not "fake".)  While close scrutiny still gives away their secret, a small amount of distance gives them all the room they need.  To be beautiful.  To be lifelike.  To be a perfect design solution.

Till the next time...

The finished product!  (Sshhh, don't tell anyone...)