I Lived With a Rootless Tree for a Month - Here's My Honest Take

A week-by-week honest review of the Rootless Tuscan Olive faux tree, from unboxing to a month of daily use.

September 23, 2026 · 2 min read

I'm going to be upfront about something: I've always been skeptical of faux plants. Every one I've seen in a rental listing or a hotel lobby had that same flat, plastic sheen that gives it away from across the room. So when a Rootless Tuscan Olive showed up at my apartment, my expectation was low - for the tree, not the company.

A faux olive tree in a white planter in a bright living room

Unboxing

It arrived fully pre-assembled - tree, planter, and a moss topping already in place. Genuinely about ten minutes from box to corner, no zip ties, no leaf-by-leaf shaping, no instructions to lose.

Week one

I put it where I put everything new - the spot that looked good in photos, not the spot that actually caught light. It looked fine, but a little flat, like you could tell it wasn't catching anything.

A faux olive tree beside a living room window catching afternoon light

Living room placement, week two - finally in real light.

Week two

I moved it beside my living room window. This is where the two-tone leaves - silvery underside, soft green on top - actually started to catch light the way a real olive tree does. It went from "nice tree" to "wait, is that real?" in one afternoon.

Weeks three and four

This is the part I didn't expect to write: I stopped thinking about it as "the tree I'm reviewing" and started just walking past it like furniture. That's the real test for me - not whether it survived, since there's nothing here to kill, but whether I stopped noticing it as a project. I did. My cat sniffed it once in week one and has ignored it since, which may be the highest compliment this apartment gives out.

Would I keep it?

Yes. Not because it's flawless - the trunk is more convincing up close than I expected, but the leaves nearest the pot read a little repetitive if you're staring right at them, which nobody but a reviewer does - but because it solved the actual problem: an empty corner, permanently, with zero upkeep. No watering schedule to guess at, no light requirements to plan around, no worrying about it while I'm traveling.

If you want to try one yourself, Rootless has the Tuscan Olive from $399, shipped pre-assembled with a designer planter included, a 14-day home trial, and a 3-year warranty. CHAGAS Home Decor readers get 20% off with code CHAGAS20%OFF at checkout. Note: it won't combine with other product, order, or shipping discounts in the customer's cart.