The property Column                    November 2006

Artificial Gardens

Liz Hodgkinson says that fake makes for friendly 


There is no doubt that lush green roof terraces, jungly patios and well-tended window boxes improve a property’s appearance and saleability. By contrast, dead or dying plants and sad, empty window boxes send property values plummeting.
But how do you keep your greenery looking good, especially in places that are hard to water or if you are away a lot?

The answer is: you go artificial. It is a little-known secret that most of the healthy-looking window boxes, neat bay trees and well-trimmed topiaries adorning the multi-million pound properties of Kensington and Chelsea are, in fact, made of plastic, cloth or silk.

“For my daughter’s wedding a month ago, I bought hundreds of yards of artificial trailing ivy, and artificial flowers on eBay, to decorate the marquee. Then I put fresh flowers on the tables matching the artificial ones – and nobody knew the difference.”

Leading estate agents are also recommending artificial, especially for rental properties. Clemmie Bailey, lettings director of Lane Fox Hyde Park says: “If the first impression is of dead window boxes, it puts both buyers and renters off. But the artificial window boxes you can get nowadays are fantastic, and we always recommend them to our landlords.

“Also, they provide security and privacy. If you have large windows, you are able to hide behind the fake window boxes. When renting properties, big artificial plants inside also look good, as, when a place is empty and on the market, it’s virtually impossible to keep watering the real thing. The other plus is that tenants don’t have to water or look after them, which they hardly ever do in any case.”

Claire Gibb, of Bective Leslie Marsh, adds: “There is still a stigma to artificial plants, but people don’t realise just how good they have become. A hideous dead garden puts people off, and we have just rented out a house with an astroturf lawn. The tenants were delighted, and didn’t bat an eyelid that it was artificial.

“We had a property on the market recently where the landlord was in Argentina and asked us, the agents, to make sure we watered the plants. But of course, we can’t do that and so they all died. Wherever there are problems over watering, artificial plants are definitely the answer.”

One of the longest-established providers of quality artificial plants is Fake, in the Old Brompton Road. Founder Shaun Skelly, who established the business 18 years ago, says: “The middle classes are still so po-faced and conservative about artificial plants but when they are really good you simply can’t tell the difference until you touch them.

“Ours are made specially for us in China and we specialise in roof terraces, balconies and window boxes, but we will also landscape a complete artificial garden. When you buy artificial, you are really buying plants as furniture. And of course, there is no maintenance. If you have two homes, as many people do these days, or spend a lot of time travelling, they are the answer. They reduce the hassle as well as looking good all the time. Artificial plants also work well to block out nasty views or eyesores.”

Shaun’s bestsellers are pairs of bay trees, of which he sells hundreds a month. He believes the secret of a successful artificial garden is to keep it subtle and avoid bright colours. “Highly coloured flowers are naff, but we will mix in heathers and lavenders to give some colour to the green.”

Artificial gardens and terraces don’t, though, come cheap. You can expect to pay three or four times as much for good-quality artificial plants as for the real thing. If a ‘real’ roof terrace costs £4000, its artificial equivalent would be around £16,000. So, far from being cheap and nasty, today’s artificial gardens are actually extremely upmarket.

Designer Candace Bahouth, of Pilton in Somerset, creates complete artificial gardens for clients. She says: “I recently had to create a garden which would last for three months, so it had to be all artificial. To make the garden look more real, I planted my fake trees, which were eight to 10 feet high, in real soil. The choice is amazing these days and gives a lot more scope to garden designers.”

Fake: www.fake.com ; tel: 020 7835 1500.
Candace Bahouth: 01749 890433

 

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