The Artificial Plant Martha Stewart Approves To Create Stunning Outdoor Ambiance

While gardening enthusiasts and purists tend to shy away from using artificial plants in their home decor because they much prefer the real thing, what if you don't have a green thumb or you want to pretty up a spot that doesn't support good plant growth? You can easily follow Martha Stewart's example and create amazing indoor or outdoor ambiance using beautiful artificial plants like faux ferns.

While lush green ferns look fantastic in any outdoor setting, it's not always easy to keep them looking their best, especially if the weather is against you and you keep forgetting to water them. That's why one of the best places to put fake plants to make them worth their while is where real ones just won't survive. According to Stewart, quality artificial ferns look just like the real thing and don't ever have to be watered or fertilized. She's even used a select range of faux ferns to decorate the indoor and outdoor eating areas of her very own restaurant in Las Vegas, The Bedford Hotel.

To choose a fake plant that looks most like the real thing, make sure you select a high-quality product. That's the secret for making the greatest impact and creating that stunning ambiance. For example, with ferns, Martha Stewart suggests looking for a product with slight color variations in the leaves, with older fronds a darker green and younger ones a lighter shade. You also want to select plants with leaves that aren't overly shiny or picture perfect. As you know, perfection in nature doesn't exist — there are always slight flaws, and faux plants should be the same.

Another way to make faux plants look real on your home's exterior relates to the way you display them. Stewart favors powder-coated metal hanging baskets with coco coir liners because they provide that extra level of realism. She gets her faux plants from QVC, which has a range of different ferns that would be suitable, like this stunning and realistic-looking Nearly Natural Boston Fern. However, there's also a large variety available at stores like Walmart and Home Depot.

To keep up the illusion with your artificial plants, make sure you clean them regularly to remove dust. You could even take it one step further and add a bit of potting soil or moss at the base of each fern. Plus, you can mix your fake plants in with any real ones that you have. Doing so is a great way to fill those bare, dark corners of your balcony or patio area where nothing real will survive.