Artificial flowers in gardens

We have a wall basket in our front garden that used to have real plants in it, but the sun is way too hot and kept killing them. We now put realistic artificial plants in it instead. Cheating? Yes. I feel a bit shamefaced, especially if people comment on how lovely they look! The rest of the garden is very real!

Not for me, outdoors or in, I prefer real plants/trees.
I probably won’t plant my window troughs or tubs this year as I’ve had a troublesome hip break, they may well stay empty, so be it.

I am not a fan of artificial

Saying that one of the AS’s has the children’s play section of his garden turfed with artificial grass which means it can be used all year round and doesn’t get water logged. He is adamant that it will be dug up and seeded once they are older.

I do like an outdoor rug in outdoor seating areas, I think that look good and feel nice under bare feet.

Don’t really like them but then I’m a coffee snob too! 😂

I just don’t know how I feel? I have a mix of “real” and “artificial” plants indoors, the fake ones are not plastic, they are silk and cloth.

Outdoor rugs and artificial plants outside? Well why not and some of the small artificial trees are amazingly realistic and no work, a mix would be great, we get very little wild life or birds, tiny garden, 4 wee dogs! (3 not mine!)

MissAdventure

I've got an outdoor rug on my back doorstep too!
I really am beyond the pale.

You are a maverick indeed!

polomint

Of course they fade, but annuals die off. If they serve a purpose at the time that can only be good

A fair point

Of course they fade, but annuals die off. If they serve a purpose at the time that can only be good

Artificial plants can look good for a while but they don't look good forever because they fade in the sunlight

I think the shopping would put me off - 90% of the artificial flowers out there don't look great, & 90% of the live flowers out there do. & they fade, so you have to replace them every couple of years.The dog might chew them too, & they don't grow back.

But my M-i-L had some when she couldn't garden any longer & they gave her a lot of pleasure.

Theyve obviously never seen mine!
I have lots of pots, nowhere to put them, as yhey have always been full of plants in the past.

So, theyresitting outside my flat looking awful.

A few artificial plants make all the difference.

The Japanese say that the gaps are more important than the plants.

To fill in gaps, I'd say.

Why would you need artificial stuff if there are plants in your garden?

I think as long as there are plants, flowers and grass in the garden, a few artificial plants can blend in well and bees and butterflies will still be around

It isn’t a garden though is it?

It is merely an outdoor space with coloured plastic shaped like flowers/plants.

There will be no life, no pollinators, no butterflies, no birds, no snails, no slugs, no hedgehogs. Nothing.

This, I seem to remember is what Lawrence Lewellyn Bowen did when he moved into his country home! I think the pretty look of it must have inspired him and his wife as they now adore gardening
I wanted one of those outdoor rugs last year & dithered but now I'm going for it and I am making matching cushions, bunting and tablecloth!

We have a pond and a wee fountain and azaleas, hostas and the usual annuals but I do like greenery. We used to have fish in the pond but the cat next door killed them We have had frogs and hedgehogs too but not for a wee while

Tbh I find them really depressing. I've just been into Home Bargains and the first two aisles are huge spray guns of weedkiller,plastic plants and cheap looking artificial grass. With more and more people making gardens into 'outdoor rooms' nature doesn't stand a chance.I appreciate I'm still fit enough to garden,and I love it but already noticed decreasing variety of birds and less bees coming despite being packed with pollinating plants.Sadly my neighbours have artificial turf ,have ripped out all the front garden and spray pesticides and insect killer with relish.We used to have hedgehogs but no chance now as their new fencing has no access holes and when I asked if they would consider leaving one you'd think I'd grown 2 heads.

An English man's home is his castle.
As long as its pest free and clean, anything goes, I think.

I prefer real plants. I love seeing how they grow - particularly my roses and the plants in my window boxes(which I am about to do today).

I like gardening but find it tiring as I get older. Even so, I still wouldn't use artificial plants.

I prefer real plants, but the guy up the road has a beautiful one outside his door. I thought it was real.

I much prefer real grass and plants.

A house near here - incidentally it’d be a very expensive one if on the market - always has artificial flowers in front garden planters. TBH I really don’t like them at all. They often leave them until the colours are faded by the sun, too.

I remember being amused to read that Lord Snowdon many years ago would put a pile of artificial flowers at a distance in his garden when friends came round for drinks in the middle of winter.
They all complimented him on the display 😁