If you’ve been out shopping during the Christmas season, you’ve probably noticed something new popping up in the last few years when it comes to faux greenery. Gone are the twiggy, scratchy pine garlands that were marginally better than a bottlebrush. Instead, soft, flexible hyper-realistic ‘real touch’ evergreens are showing up everywhere.
If you’ve passed on fake greens before, it’s time to take another look.
The “Big” Debate
First, let’s get something important out of the way. We are a real tree household (Christmas trees, not the camo brand). Give me a real tree every time. But when it comes to greenery on the mantel or banister and around the house? Eh, I’m willing to make concessions.
Cleaning sap out of the carpet is hard, and stepping on Colorado blue spruce needles causes me many a four-letter word. No, not ‘snow’.
This new style of faux greenery has me converted!
They look so good, all decked out with Christmas lights and candles tucked in among them. I found one garland that even had real pinecones in it, making it look even more realistic.
I’ve had several friends poke at it and say, “Is this real?” They can’t believe it isn’t until they get right up close.
(This is the garland I bought with the pinecones. I love that it has a mix of several different types of conifers in it.)
And the pictures online don’t do them justice; you’ve got to see real touch evergreens in person to believe it.
Real Touch
You’ll often see these evergreens labeled or advertised as ‘real touch’ greenery. These artificial pines, cedars, spruces, and junipers are designed to mimic the look and feel of fresh-cut foliage so convincingly that you have to touch them to be sure they’re not real.
If you love holiday decorating as much as I do, but you’re tired of the mess and short lifespan of natural greens, this newer generation of faux evergreens is the upgrade you didn’t know you needed.
What sets these faux evergreens apart is their construction.
Instead of the stiff, shiny plastic, bottlebrush-type branches we all remember from the fake greenery of years past, these branches use a blend of either molded PE (polyethylene) or a PVC (polyvinyl chloride)/PE blend, and flexible wire cores.
The outer needles are molded with subtle textures and matte finishes that mimic the feel and look of real conifer foliage. (Quite convincingly!)
Often, varieties like Norfolk pine and cedar even have the characteristic drape and movement of the fresh-cut branches they’re modeled after.
This is the 9ft cedar garland I bought for my banister, and it drapes beautifully.
Because the stems are wired, you can shape and fluff them in different directions and wrap them around furniture, which you can’t do with the stiff branches of real greens. The effect is incredibly organic-looking, all without sap-covered fingers and shed needles all over your carpet.
Some of the nicer varieties even make the interior central wire look like branches, making it even harder to tell if it’s real or fake at first glance.
After the first garland I bought arrived, I quickly realized that the appeal here goes beyond realism.
These soft-touch evergreens are so much more convenient than real greenery. There’s no sap, no dropping needles, and no browning branches by mid-December. For someone like me, who likes to leave Christmas decorations up through January, that’s huge!
If your home tends to run warm, or if you decorate early in the season, faux greenery keeps its structure and color the whole way through without constant misting.
Do you suffer from allergies? There are no mold spores, no resin scents, and none of the irritants that sometimes come with cut evergreens.
But my favorite part is that, while yes, these high-quality faux stems cost more upfront, they tend to pay for themselves within a couple of seasons, especially if you usually purchase fresh garlands, wreaths, or bundles every year as I did. And even with that said, they are incredibly reasonable.
I decided to go all in and bought enough garlands to do my mantel, my banister and the top of my office bookshelf; my usual fresh greenery spots.
The Environmental Impact
Now, as someone who cares deeply for the environment, I know I’m going to get some pushback on these. After all, it’s more plastic and real greenery is, well, real and compostable.
But hear me out. From an environmental impact, it’s basically a wash.
As humans, our efforts at taking care of the environment often turn into trade-offs rather than genuine solutions to problems. This faux greenery is no different.
Real trees sequester carbon, but that carbon only stays locked in the tree if we let it grow. Cutting down evergreens releases that carbon back into the environment. Trees cut down to be sold for fresh greenery and Christmas trees every year add up over time.
Whereas with the faux greenery, you buy them once and continue to use them year after year. Did I mention that nearly all of them are designed to be UV-resistant so they will hold their color? With proper care and storage, you could easily have these for the rest of your life. It’s one environmental hit, and you’re done.
Either way, you’re having an impact on the environment. How just depends on whether you go with real or real touch.
Care and Storage
You can buy wreaths, garlands, mantle swags, or even single stems, making it a great choice for all of your holiday décor.
With a little care, your natural-feel evergreens will last for many years. After the holidays, give them a quick clean before storing them. A microfiber cloth works well for dust, or you can use a soft brush attachment on a handheld vacuum for larger garlands.
I’m considering hanging mine in the shower, giving them a quick rinse, then letting them hang to dry.
If anything has gotten smushed during the season, gently reshape the wired branches before storing them.
Keep them in a dry, temperature-stable space, ideally in a lidded plastic bin to protect them from dust and humidity. If you buy the large garlands, loosely coil them rather than folding them to prevent permanent creases. All of mine came coiled in sturdy reusable cardboard boxes, which I saved to store them in.
Real touch evergreens offer the best of both worlds. You get the beauty and texture of fresh Christmas greenery without the maintenance, mess, or short lifespan. If you’re ready for holiday décor that looks lush from the first week of December straight through to New Year’s, these hyper-realistic faux evergreens totally live up to the hype.
