8ft Pre-Potted Artificial Cedar Tree Privacy Screen - UV Resistant Outdoor Fake Evergreen for Porch, Patio & Entryway Decor - Perfect for Creating Shade, Enhancing Privacy & Boosting Curb Appeal (2 Pack)

As a designer and home stager in the second home market, I often require some no-maintenance, realistic artificial plants for interior and sometimes exterior use. Given my experience in landscape design and gardening, I rarely find faux plants that can pass for the real, unless they represent the succulent and cactus family. Nothing ruins my designs, and my client’s satisfaction than faux plants whose foliage, colors, or plant structure and proportions are unrealistic. I have ordered some expensive, high quality plants and trees from specialty companies that looked great in the catalogue but were truly appalling in person.When I saw these 8’ columnar cedars and read the reviews, I decided to try one out, which at the time of my initial order sold for 138.00 with a 10% discount. Since they were offered with free returns, I took a chance, despite knowing faux evergreens are often disappointing and unrealistic. The reviews showed high marks for quality and realism. I thought the price was reasonable. My own front yard needed a tall evergreen to hide an HVAC outlet, but a lack of adequate sunlight and poor soil and drainage conditions had already caused $400.00 of 6 ft living evergreens to fail.Imagine my pleasure when I opened my order to find this columnar cedar to have exceptionally realistic foliage, color, fullness, and a true 8 ft height. Since I am familiar with the growth habit and foliage density of cedars, I easily fluffed the branches to emulate their natural fullness and upright branch growth without a single dropping of greenery or branches. (These aren’t meant to be the shape of Christmas trees. These are tall and narrow like the cedar and cypress trees natural to Tuscan landscapes.) The width of this tree is only about 14” in diameter at the base slowly tapering to about 4” near the top, which was what I wanted.This cedar tree comes in 4 pieces that easily fit firmly into each other. The base is weighty, but given the 8’ + height, it needs to be set up in a bigger pot with rocks to keep it stable in a strong wind, or if being used as interior event decor. Since mine was an exterior installation, I dug a hole in order to “plant” this tree in my multiple evergreen landscape. The soil was wet from a lot of recent rain when I put this tree in ground. The following day we had winds of 60 mph swept across our area. So not unexpectedly it blew over. I had to dig it in a little deeper, then mulched the base and its surrounding area with 3” river rock to give this much height some added stability. I was so pleased with this tree, that I immediately went to order 2 more a few days later, and to my surprise the price had dropped to 98.00 each. Now my neighbors are asking where I found beautiful, healthy cedar trees this tall, and in late winter. No one has figured out they are artificial. Exceptional!