There’s a house that was recently completed about two miles from our house, and I absolutely love this house. To be honest, I can’t even remember what was there before. Is this a brand new house? Was the house there before, and they just completely remodeled it? I have no idea. But this new (or newly remodeled) house is really pretty. But what I notice first and foremost ever single time I drive by are the two pretty spiral topiary cedars they have in their front flower gardens.

I absolutely love spiral topiaries, and I’d love to have some in my front flower beds as well. But I’ve had spiral topiaries before, and just couldn’t (or didn’t want to) keep up with them. You have to keep them trimmed to keep their shape, which I didn’t enjoy doing. But what bothered me the most about them was that one grew more than the other. So while they started off looking identical as they flanked my front door, they eventually lost that pretty, symmetrical look. And then I killed them. (Not intentionally.)

I’m not one of those people who gets really annoyed by fake plants. I use a combination of fake and real plants inside our home. Heck, I even use a combination of real and fake outside of our home on/around our front porch.

The two tall-ish cedars on either side of the front steps are fake. I think they’re fantastic quality, and once you fluff and manipulate the branches a little, they look pretty real to me. (And they’re on sale for $38 right now!)

But I’ve always drawn the line with fake plants at keeping them in pots. As long as they’re potted, it seems fine to me. But actually planting them in the ground? Outside? In the front yard? I know other people do it. I’ve seen their pictures in the customer review section of Amazon listings. And you know what? They look great!

In the past, I’ve contemplated whether or not I could do artificial grass in our front yard. I finally decided that I don’t want to be that person in central Texas who has the perfectly green yard in the middle of winter while everyone else’s grass is dormant and looks dead and brown. Nothing could make it more obvious that the grass is fake.

I’ve also contemplated whether or not I could use fake plants in the flower boxes I eventually plan to build for the front windows of our house. I envision the studio looking something like this eventually, except that the steps to the studio door will be white and stained wood like the front steps rather than red brick…

Honestly, I wouldn’t have any problem doing fake greenery mixed with real flowers if I needed to. But there are some great, easy-to-grow green plants (like potato vines) that are available eliminate any need for fake greenery for me. But even if I did use fake greenery in those, there’s not much of a hurdle from using fake plants in a pot and fake plants in a window box. That’s basically the same thing.

But actually planting fake plants in the ground in a flower bed? I’m just not sure about it. What I do know is that if I’m going to have topiaries of any kind, they will have to be fake. And I think it might work if they’re mixed in with real plants and colorful annuals.

I haven’t found any spiral topiaries that I think look real, but I did find these ball topiaries that I’m tempted to buy. They have great ratings, and while the product photos wouldn’t have convinced me (they all seem very photoshopped), the customer pictures look really good. None of them show the topiaries planted in the ground, though.

I think I might go for it. If they don’t work out in the front yard, I can always put them in planters and move them to the back when we eventually have a deck in the back. Would you ever try it? Have you ever tried it? These say that they’re for indoor or outdoor use, and can be put in the ground. If you’ve done it, I’m curious to know how long they lasted.

Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.