Faux Outdoor Shrubs

How Faux Shrubs Are Made

• Faux shrubs may be made out of a number of materials. Artificial evergreens, such as pine, are often made from plastics or metals. This allows the plants to hold up in most any type of weather and also makes them somewhat fire-retardant. Some faux shrubs, however, have some natural elements. Limbs from the Rusty Lyonia plant are regularly used as limbs on faux shrubs, according to the University of Florida, and fake foliage is simply attached to the real wood.

Faux Evergreens

• You can buy and "plant" fake evergreen trees either in planters inside your home or outdoors in planters or directly in the ground. One benefit of choosing faux evergreen shrubs over other shrub types is that evergreens can appear like a natural part of your landscape at any time of year. These faux evergreens are designed to hold up in inclement winter weather, such as snow and ice, giving them an advantage over real evergreens.

Faux Flowering Bushes, Decorative Shrubs and Topiary

• You can find faux shrubs of nearly any type, though these shrubs may serve you best indoors. If you place faux flowering shrubs outdoors, it will be obvious that they are fake come winter, though you can always remove the shrubs in the winter months and "replant" shrubs each spring. Other faux outdoor shrubs are made to look decorative and not necessarily natural. Shrubs cut into the shape of Christmas trees, for instance, may be dyed in a range of colors, and faux topiary is cut into shapes.

"Planting" Faux Shrubs

• Because faux shrubs obviously don't form a root system, you must provide the shrubs with support when you plant them. This is simple for shrubs that come in pots. You simply dig a hole large enough to hold the pot, put the pot into the hole and cover the pot with soil. For faux shrubs that are not potted, you must cement the base of the faux plant into the ground. This is done by digging a hole, wrapping wire around the shrub trunk that will be below the ground and pouring cement around the base of the trunk.