Artificial hanging plants come in four formats: ready-made hanging baskets ($84.95 to $129.95), single trailing bushes you plant into your own basket or pot (from $14.95), garland bushes in sets of 10 for beams and pergolas ($34.95 a set), and 63" interconnectable garlands (from $14.95). Choose the format by where it hangs, then check the UV rating on anything going outdoors.
Ready-made hanging baskets
These arrive arranged and ready to hang. The range covers the spring evergreen basket ($129.95), the petunia hanging basket ($99.95), the 18" lilac flower basket ($99.95) and the 18" wide leaf buxus flowering basket ($84.95). Buy ready-made when the basket is the focal point, such as either side of a front door, because the arrangement is already balanced and full from every side.
Build your own with trailing bushes
If you already own baskets or planters, single trailing bushes are the cheaper route. The two tone ivy hanging bush (31", $14.95), weeping willow grass (37", $15.95), dense fern (30", $19.95), maidenhair fern (31", $19.95) and button fern (31", $24.95) are all UV resistant and long enough to drop well over the rim of a pot. Three bushes, one centred and two angled over the edge, fill a typical porch basket for $45 to $75, against $85 to $130 ready-made. Mixing one fern with two ivy trails gives more depth than three of the same.
Garland bushes for beams, pergolas and walls
For a run rather than a single point, garland bushes come in sets of 10 at $34.95, about $3.50 per bush, each roughly 30" long. Butted end to end a set covers about 25 linear ft; overlapped by a third for a fuller look, about 17 ft. Styles include creeping fig, eucalyptus, star jasmine vine, purple and green willow, bamboo leaf and hanging pearls. These sets are UV resistant and NFPA 701 rated, which matters when they go into a restaurant, venue or event space. For long straight runs, the 63" interconnectable ivy garland ($17.95) links end to end. Coverage and reuse are covered in artificial garlands for seasonal styling.
Window boxes and statement pieces
Draping 20" x 14" window box planters come in lilac ($89.95), poinsettia ($114.95) and pink petunia ($159.95). For colour at height, 30" hanging bougainvillea comes in sets of 5 in white and pink ($149.95) or purple ($199.95), and 35" hanging pearls come five to a set for $69.95. For a ceiling-hung centrepiece, framed roof-hanging discs with draping foliage are covered in the green wall discs guide.
Sun, wind and where they hang
A basket under a porch roof sees far less UV than one on an open pergola, but anything outdoors should still carry a UV rating. Flowering colours show fading before greens do in full sun, so put flowering baskets in part shade and trailing greens in the hottest spots. Hanging pieces swing, so on exposed sites use a closed hook or clip rather than an open S hook, and fix garland bushes with UV-rated ties at both ends and the middle. The detail on fading is in do artificial plants fade in the sun, and salt and chlorine picks are in the poolside and coastal guide. Indoors, UV rating is optional; the no-light rooms guide covers which species read as believable.
Browse the full hanging plants and garlands range. To cover a whole fence or wall rather than finish one, see the ivy roll guide, and find the rest of the series in the Expert Tips and Guides hub.