How to Pot Faux Trees and Plants Like a Pro
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Can you riddle me this? Why do most faux trees come in a teeny tiny little pot? I love a good faux tree as much as anyone but they are not quite ready to plop down in a room right out the box. They take some zhushing.
Today’s post is how to pot faux trees and plants so they look elevated and lovely. And not sad and dinky.

This how-to applies to all faux trees, no matter the type or size.
Things You’ll Need
- Faux Tree (I used this one)
- Large Pot or Basket (I’m using an old Target Basket)
- Cardboard
- Bricks – I picked up cheap bricks from Home Depot
- Plastic Bags or Bubble Wrap
- Spanish Moss
- Optional (tree light)
How to Pot Faux Trees (without exposing that dinky little pot!)
- Determine how high you want your tree in your pot. I like a little height! Stack sturdy layers of cardboard on the bottom until your tree is sitting at your desired height.
- Take some bricks and anchor your tree into place by placing them on all sides. This will hold the tree steady and also give it some weight (in case Aunt Edna has too much wine at your next Christmas Party and falls into it.)
- Fill in the rest of the pot with bubble wrap and plastic bags. Smush it all down so it’s smooth.
- Lay spanish moss across the top, completely covering the bags.
- Optional! Nestle one of these battery operated spotlights into your spanish moss and turn it on when you want a little tree glow!



That’s all there is to it – your tree will look so much better this way! Happy “planting!”


How to Make Fake Plants Look More Real
While we are on the subject, let’s take those faux plants and make them look more real. Here’s how I do it.
Gather your materials
- Faux plants or florals (see above for some good picks!)
- Pots – I used my favorite terra cotta which you can find anywhere. HomeGoods is a great source for little vases and pots. Remember these are fake so the sky is the limit with your vessels (you don’t need a drainage hole!)
- Scissors or Wire Cutters
- Knife
- Floral foam
- Faux moss
- Glue or hot glue



- The first thing you want to do is prepare your pots by sticking in a block of floral foam. Use your knife to cut off the excess foam from the top of the pot. You can use your pot as a guide. You want the foam to cover as much of the pot as possible so you will most likely need to cut little pieces to fill in the gaps and holes.
- Insert your faux plant directly into the floral foam. You can stick in the middle or a little off to the side, wherever you think it looks best and most natural. You might have to cut off some of the stem length from the bottom. You want your plant to be flush against the top of the foam so no stem is visible. This is also what helps achieve that realistic look. The stems on faux plants can be a giveaway – so cover them up completely and no one will know!
- Now cover up the foam with moss. You can use a bit of glue to get it to stick and stay in place. You could also use rocks to cover up the foam. But if you really want that real look, the moss will help so much!
Note: if you find that your plants or flowers aren’t looking right, cut each one off the main stem into individual flowers and separate them. Then you can insert them one by one into the foam. This gives you a little more control over the end result.


And that’s it! Aunt Hilda will never know. 🙂