How to Stabilize Fake Plants in the Home (DIY Budget Solutions)

Learn how to weigh down fake plants with our DIY solutions, like:

• using heavy materials to add weight to your planters,
• choosing the right planters for your artificial plants, and
• dressing up your plants to fit your decor with smart ideas for stabilizing your indoor plants.

Okay – we admit even we find it surprising that we are talking about fake plants. And to be honest, it almost feels like we are being unfaithful to our living green friends.

However, we did get a lot of questions from visitors at the Garden Bench Top asking how to weigh down their faux plants. So much in fact, we thought it would be helpful to do a quick write-up on the topic. After all, we are a community – driven resource.

So let’s explore clever ways to keep your artificial plants upright.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

If you are looking for solutions to stop your ‘REAL PLANT’ planters from falling over, jump over to our original article HOW TO WEIGH DOWN PLANTERS for REAL PLANTS. Incidentally, this is where we received a lot of questions from people seeking information about stabilizing fake plants!

Ingenious Ways to Weigh Down Tall Artificial Plants

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand the problem with a falling artificial plant is because it is top-heavy. Meaning the weight is not distributed evenly between the top and the bottom of the plant.

So, the natural solution is to even out the weight distribution.

On a living plant, you would grab a pair of gardening secateurs and go to town on the top half, thinning down the branches and lightening the load of the leaves. But, we’re guessing you bought this artificial plant, because you actually liked what you saw – so this is not an option.

Which means we need to add weight to the bottom of the plant.

As we see it, there are two ways to increase the weight of your planter. How you go about it will depend on a few things, like:

1. is your faux plant glued into the pot that it came in? Can you extract it if you wanted to?
2. How handy are you with DIY projects?

Time for Your Plants to go for a Workout

Gym weights are the perfect tool to weigh down your planters.

They are round, made from solid heavy material and are slimline, so they remain hidden. In fact, they are so perfectly suited you wouldn’t be too far a stretch to believe they were made specifically for this purpose, rather than sculpting muscles!

And if that wasn’t enough, second hand gym weights are super easy to come by. All you need to do is a quick search in second – hand markets. Online stores like eBay and the Facebook marketplace, will come up with hundreds of advertisements for people wanting to get rid of their gym weights that are sitting in a corner collecting dust.

Gym weights are perfect for keeping your artificial plants stable.

TOP TIP – when you are looking for the perfect weight for your DIY project, try to find one that matches the same size (or slightly smaller) than the bottom of your pot / planter. This will give you the best looking result, with minimal problems to deal with.

You will Need:

• second larger planter that your original pot will comfortably fit into,
• second hand gymnasium weight,
• water and clean cloth, and
• hot glue gun.

Instructions to weigh down TALL planter pots:

Once you have acquired your second-hand weights, follow these steps to weigh down your artificial plants:

1. To begin, grab your second-hand weight and give it a good clean with a damp cloth. Make sure to clean off as much dirt and dust as possible, and leave to air dry.
2. Once the weight is completely dry, place it on the ground in front of you. IMPORTANT – Make sure the artificial plant is within arms reach.
3. Grab your hot glue gun and apply a generous amount of glue on the surface of the weight. This may be tricky because of the grooves and writing on the weight. Aim to cover all the raised surfaces of the weight with plenty of glue. In the end, in order for this to work, the weight needs to be securely glued to the bottom of the planter.
4. Quickly place the bottom of the planter onto the weight, making sure they are securely connected.
5. Now for the tricky part. You will need to place a few larger items around your artificial plant to keep it standing upright while the glue dries. This can be a bit of a balancing act, but we believe in you! Wait until the glue has completely cured. Please refer to the manufacturers guidelines for the appropriate amount of time to wait.
6. Once the glue has dried, you can now place your (now heavier) artificial plant into the second, larger planter. Note, use your creativity and resources to find containers that are a bit outside of the box. We’ve seen wonderfully creative solutions like people using big woven baskets as a substitute planter or even hollowed out tree trunks. You are really only limited by your imagination.

How to Keep Small Fake Plants Upright

The other type of fake plants that need a bit of help with stability are smaller faux plant arrangements. Especially, artificial plants like silk orchids. They look striking, dainty and elegant, but there lies the problem. They are often perched high up on thin branches, making them top-heavy, causing the entire planter to topple.

Don’t despair, there are a few tricks you can implement to even out the weight distribution in your small planters.

You will Need:

• small river pebbles (we like to use pebbles about ¼ inch in diameter)
• floral foam bricks

Instructions to weigh down SMALL planter pots:

Once you have gathered all your materials, follow these steps for increasing the weight in your small planters:

1. Empty the contents of your planter.
2. Wash your river pebbles (this step is optional – we figured we always bring in loose soil and dirt with our other living plants, we might as well try to minimize the dust and dirt in the artificial plants).
3. Place them in the planter at the bottom, making sure you give them a good shake afterwards, so they eliminate any gaps or air pockets. You should aim to fill the bottom third of the planter with pebbles.
4. Begin to fill the remainder of the planter with the floral foam bricks. Depending on the size of your planter, you may need to break or cut the brick up to fill out the pot.
5. Carefully insert the base of your orchid stem into the floral foam bricks.
6. For some creative inspiration, try covering the top of the planter with some dry sphagnum moss or fake turf cut outs.

Here is a YouTube video by Jcurlstyle where she shows you how to set up your own DIY orchid arrangement.

Who Are Fake Plants For?

Okay, so we’ll admit fake plants aren’t for everyone. Full disclosure, none of the Garden Bench Top team have any fake / faux/ artificial plants in their homes.

But that doesn’t mean we don’t like them. Quite the opposite, there are some absolutely beautiful and stunning artificial plants available. From a distance, you would be hard-pressed to tell a living plant from a fake one. And they are only getting better as technology advances and different techniques emerge making faux plants.

Fake plants are great for those that are time poor, but love to have some greenery in their decor around the house. They are also great for those that tend to struggle to keep plants alive.

Benefits of Fake Plants

The main benefit of faux plants is the minimal maintenance required to keep the plants looking good. They do require cleaning every now and again to prevent the build up of dust. We recommend wiping leaves and flower petals once every fortnight.

Depending on the placement of your artificial plants, you may need to clean them more frequently. For example, an artificial plant in the kitchen will collect grease and dust each time you use the kitchen to cook.

What’s Next?

There you have it – our best tips for keeping your fake plants standing upright and looking beautiful.

If you have used other techniques to keep your artificial plants standing, please let us know in the comments below, so we can include them in this article for our wonderful community.