By Caron Golden
For The Union-Tribune
No light? No time? No green thumb? No problem. As captivating as nature is, not everyone is a gardener or has the best environment for raising plants. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have greenery around.
Replica plants have existed for centuries. The materials for making imitation flowers have been found in ancient Egypt, ancient Rome, China and South America. They include painted linen, rice paper, silk, wax and even the shavings of stained horn. The art of producing these flowers eventually made its way to , Sweden, England and elsewhere in Europe, before arriving in the U.S.
Perhaps your grandmother had silk flower arrangements or even plastic plants with petals made of fabric. And it was totally obvious they were fake. But since then, said Jim Mumford, owner of Good Earth Plant Co. in San Diego, replica plant technology has reached a point that you sometimes can’t tell the difference between real and replica. And that’s not just flowers: It’s all sorts of plants, including succulents.
Good Earth has developed a reputation for creating living plant walls. I met Mumford years ago when he was first deg and installing edible plant walls for restaurants. Living plant walls still make up most of his business, but over the years he has included replica plants and moss walls.
So-called fauxliage or replica plants aren’t for everyone — and Mumford is well aware of that. But live plants aren’t for everyone either.
“They need light. They need water,” he pointed out. “They require depth if you’re creating a plant wall.”
Today’s replica plants are made of plastic. Mumford said that 98 percent are manufactured in China. Some have wire in them to enable movement in stems, leaves and petals. Most of Mumford’s clientele for replica plants are businesses, but he also has residential clients. These are people who have specific needs for a specific space, people who have low light situations, who want to place a plant wall in an area where potential dripping or misting could ruin furniture, electronics or artwork, or they just don’t have the time or interest to care for real plants. It can be a way to satisfy — to an extent — biophilic design with a visual nod to nature in the environment. It can be an easy way to incorporate plants into short-term rentals.
Replica plants don’t have to be in the form of a wall. They can be potted. They can be framed. When I was visiting their offices, I found a piece that Good Earth designer Rachel Hecathorn had put together just for fun using a wood pallet that had been hanging in the rafters of the warehouse.
It features large pink and green anthurium, interspersed with all sorts of fern, taro and palm leaves, as well as vines — all secured to the pallet with zip ties. The pallet is visible, making the work wild and unpretentious — a fun and funky statement piece.
Mumford recalled a client in Ocean Beach who, he said, “was not a great plant mom, but she wanted succulents on the wall.” What she wanted wouldn’t last, so Hecathorn designed a set of three replica plant walls, filled with succulent color and texture, for her entryway. An added bonus was that replica plants enabled the walls to have a slimmer profile, which Mumford pointed out is also a benefit if you want to install a plant wall along a staircase or over a chair or sofa.
“If they’d been live plants, they would have impeded guests’ entry,” Mumford noted. “Rachel can create a piece with only 3-inch depth. A live plant wall has to be deeper — about 8 inches. And moss walls can be 2 inches deep.”
Ah, moss walls. They look like something you’d love to dig your toes into. You’d be forgiven for thinking they’re alive. In fact, while the moss was once a living plant, these are actually preserved using food-grade glycerin and then glued to the structure. Mumford sources his from sustainable, eco-friendly moss farms. There are several varieties that have distinct thicknesses, lengths and textures. Lycopodium, for instance, has creeping stems, while pole moss is more compact and dense. Fern moss is feathery; reindeer moss is spongy.
They exist in the wild in varying shades of green but can also be dyed any color using food dyes. Why would you want to dye moss? Well, Mumford has clients who want to create a moss sign using their logo in their colors. Or designers want a specific shade to go with the decor, or to create a design that calls for variations of colors to create depth. These walls can also include driftwood, mushrooms, bark and, yes, replica plants to create a dramatic look.
Another benefit Mumford pointed out is that because moss walls don’t require watering, you don’t have to adjust the structure you’re hanging them on, because they won’t carry additional weight from retained water.
According to Mumford, who has sold moss walls for 10 years, the walls don’t have to be huge installations for offices or residential estates.
“We can make them small — as small as 12 inches square,” he said. “Somebody might want a picture frame of a moss because it’s cool, has an interesting texture, or evokes certain emotions from it.”
The moss requires almost no attention. Mumford said they don’t even attract dust. But they need to be out of direct sunlight because they’ll fade and shouldn’t be outside, not just because of the sunlight but also the potential for being exposed to rain. The color may leak, he explained.
And the environment can’t be too dry, or the moss crinkles up. That being said, if it dries out — say, we’re experiencing Santa Ana winds — leave it alone.
“Don’t touch it,” said Mumford. “The humidity will come back at some point and fluff it back up again.”
He recalled a residential client in Rancho Santa Fe who called him in to replace staghorn ferns that were placed in alcoves at either end of a long corridor. Problem No. 1 was that there wasn’t enough light. Staghorns require bright but indirect light. The other problem was that they were covered with scale and mealybugs. Replacing them wasn’t a good option.
“I told him we’d have to replace them every three months,” Mumford said. “That gets old. So, Rachel created moss pieces that took the place of the live plants. They look phenomenal.”
Unlike moss walls, replica plants that are UV-protected can be placed in direct sunlight, including outdoors. They can be blended with live plants to create a live plant effect.
Replica plants do require some maintenance — dusting and cleaning, of course, maybe a couple of times a year, or quarterly. And Mumford pointed out that stems or other parts can get damaged because people pull on them, so they might need replacing. He noted that the plants have a shelf life of about 10 to 15 years.
“I’m here to solve a problem for my client,” Mumford said. “We’re solution-oriented. Sometimes living plants aren’t going to work in their environment. Without the right light and water, they’re not going to grow big. The quality of replica plants has gotten so good it enables us to use those, but people just don’t know.”
