That picture would inspire me right out of placing topiaries right next to my door. Why do beautiful things that are jamming into your entry space so tightly have you think the entry experience is enhanced? A person could not get through this door without getting spiders on their clothes! The only way topiaries could help the entryway to look inviting is if they were moved completely to the side of the door, outside of the path of travel.

The picture is clearly taken in the UK and almost certainly in London. It is a classic urban front door and I for one like that look. Different cultures, different architecture, different tastes. And bear in mind that that home will be unlikely to have much garden space so people grow plants wherever they can find a spot. Yaardvaark, you make lovely recommendations suitable for certain types of property but your style doesn't suit everyone. Or every building. In fact your keenness on limbing trees up and eradicating anything that hides a house is often not my taste at all.

On the other hand I loath faux topiaries. The trees in the picture are bay trees, a tough and easy subject if your climate allows. Knowing where the OP is would be useful.

Seconding Yardvaark's comment. If I were someone who is mobility impaired, ie using a walker/cane or wheelchair, I couldn't get in your door. Another thing to consider, if you or your guests need to leave via stretcher/gurney in an ambulance, there is no room to get through. It could delay lifesaving medical treatment.

"In fact your keenness on limbing trees up and eradicating anything that hides a house is often not my taste at all." It's well established that we differ profoundly on what is good, permissible or desirable in a landscape but the question distills down to what factors motivate the views and determine if they are reasonable, or not. In my case, landscape is about resolving function first and foremost. The door in the above picture is literally 50% blocked by two pretty topiaries. If those topiaries became prettier -- pretty enough -- would I change my mind about their existence in front of the doorway? Hardly! It doesn't matter if they are the prettiest thing on earth, they will never belong in that position because they physically impede use of the door. Their only justification in that position is to enhance the appearance of the door, but if they simultaneously impede its use, their justification is negated. I would be willing to bet that the door in the above picture is 100% set-up for a photo session. No one would actually place plants like that if they were actively using that door. Imagine how careful one would need to be after a rain, making sure their face didn't touch the foliage. Photographically, it's pretty. But completely unrealistic.

Again, we'll have to agree to differ. The photograph shows a very typical central London 19th century front door. It may or may not be arranged for the photo but there are hundreds of similar doorways throughout the city. and in other cities with similar architecture. Somehow Brits manage to get in and out of their homes.

As for fretting about stretchers, that's pretty far fetched. Paramedics treat on site initially. By the time they were ready to move someone the pots could have been moved, if necessary. If one were a regular wheelchair user obviously one would ensure the entrance were wide enough. The OP doesn't say their door is like the one in the picture, just that they want similar trees.

Oh boy, I would love to see some videos of Londoners actually using doorways pinched as tightly as those in the picture!

That something has been done (poorly done) in a certain way for a very long time doesn't give it the least amount of credibility. Nandina, I think you work too hard trying to justify the unjustifiable. I know people who cram gorgeous pieces of furniture in their small houses because they are so in love with those pieces. But a person can't walk around the corner without getting smacked in the thigh with the corner of a credenza for which there is no room. Or one must walk sideways in order to squeeze through a passage. This is the creation of people who can't accept logical, orderly organization but are swept away with romantic details, nostalgia and sentimentality no matter how impractical. Combine the latter AFTER achieving the former and one might have something.

Okay, so this is NOT my front entryway. I just liked the look of that particular topiary....I have quite a large entryway and my front stair (I have a simple step-up) protrudes out several feet wider than my front door on both sides. `My best friend and my grandmother are both immobile and you can be certain that I would never add anything just for aesthetic reasons that would prohibit them from coming to visit me! That being said, I like the look of the bay leaf topiary. I don't have a green thumb. Just looking for recommendations as to how to get that look (of the topiary, NOT the entryway), without spending a fortune, since I may kill it :) I live in Massachusetts and my front door gets a lot of sun.

I have to agree with Yardvaark - that is an uncomfortably tight entry with those massive topiaries on either side. A person with much girth would have to move sideways to get through to the door!! And two people coming for a visit would have to move in single file........that is just against all common tenets of a "good" landscape design or a welcoming "curb appeal". While it may look "pretty", it is impractical and becomes intimidating and unwelcoming, which is just the opposite of what it should be for a front or primary entry.

Now if the porch or stoop was wider or more generously sized so that it extended out on either side of the doorway a reasonable distance, that would be a different situation and they could work well. But in that photo example, that is way too much plant/accessories for such a tiny space.

ETA: since it appears the OP has a roomier position to accommodate topiaries without impeding comfortable access, artificial ones may make the most sense in his/her climate as winter cold would likely make short work of any living topiaries. There are some very attractive artificial topiaries available by mail order from some of the home decor outlets......check Wayfair, Grandinroad or Ballard designs

The most interesting question to me is: how do you kill things so consistently? Do you know why your plants die? Until we solve that mystery it makes no sense to put forth recommendations.

P.S. The door in the (lovely!) photo is set back quite a bit from the outer edge of the wall -- we can see that by observing the porch light and the framing above the door. This brings the plants closer the camera, making them appear larger and more crowding than they are in reality. It's like when you take a photo of a group of kids and the one closest to the camera looks huge, while the one in the back of the group looks tiny. A trick of perspective.

The original poster is in Massachusetts. I would think that a potted plant of most any type would have trouble living outdoors through the very cold winters in that region--it gets quite a cold winter there, no? Roots are more protected in the ground than in a pot. The plant might have to go into storage for the winter if it stays in a pot.

It would also help to know which way the op's doorway faces--the conditions of a north-facing doorway are much different than a south facing one, and so on. Sounds like south or west because op states it gets "a lot of sun".

I had the privilege to live six months in the UK, and everything there is smaller and compressed more than in the Western US. It's crowded there! We have a luxury of space here that many others in the world do not.

The best looking fake topiaries are quite expensive but if you can afford it I think it is a good idea. Shaped plants next to a door is sort of a cliche but I admit that I have one. Mine is growing in the soil. It is a Privet but boxwood is common too. Both plants are difficult to kill. Perhaps you mean you kill potted plants. Some places are just not ideal for container plants. Where I live it was 107 a few days ago and only succulent plants can be grown in small containers here. Perhaps it is not your fault that potted plants die.

"The most interesting question to me is: how do you kill things so
consistently? Do you know why your plants die? Until we solve that
mystery it makes no sense to put forth recommendations."

That's largely irrelevant because she asked for recommendations for artificial plants.

"Can anyone recommend a very life-like faux topiary that could work?"

"Then maybe I could plant some live flowers at the base to make it more life-like? Or hopefully it looks SO real I dont even need to do that :) Or is there a topiary plant that is extremely hardy?"

BTW, fake plants do not have great longevity. The sun works its wonders and their leaves being to fade to sickly colors within a few months. Not long after, leaves become deteriorated and begin to fall off. Within a year, usually, they are looking pretty wasted. Whether that is an improvement over live plants kicking the bucket after a time, is hard to say. In my experience, the people who have trouble maintaining live plants are people who do not care to be bothered by them. Neither do they wish to exert themselves to find out if the plant has needs or preferences. They just want an artificial plant that has no needs. The only way to turn this around is to develop an interest that surpasses apathy toward plants.