How To Stake Garden Plants (& Tips To AVOID Staking Plants)

As I ’m writing this in late August , I ’m look at a wood of bamboo in front of me . No , I have n’t plump overboard and plant a bamboo patch in my little suburban backyard . These are teetotal bamboo poles diligently doing their job of supporting my dahlias , althea , tomato , raspberry and other such lanky inhabitants of the garden .

I palpate that staking is one of those jobs that we run to look out over when we re-start our flurry of gardening activities in spring . Understandably so . Not all plants take bet and , even if they did , this wo n’t necessitate to fall out for a few months . The stakes are just not that high , pardon the pun .

But I think that knowing which plants involve staking is a good first step in planning our gardens , especially when we ’re just start this wonderful journey . Knowing when they ’ll need staking is also an important factor in the garden intent equation .

My tools of the trade will always include bamboo canes for staking.

Why should I stake my plants?

Here are some scenarios in which staking your plants moves from optional to compulsory .

You’re growing top-heavy plants.

I utterly have a go at it dinnerplate dahlia . I love how braggy and showy they are . But I also know that the giant pom - pommy flowers will definitely flop under their own weight . In a worst - event scenario , the weight will even make the dahlias to flick .

So if you ’re planting top - lumbering flowers , such as dahlias , delphinium or peonies , you have to be prepared to stake them .

You’re getting a lot of rain.

rainfall is fantabulous for the luxuriance of a garden . But too much rain can also be detrimental . In improver to the fungi it helps proliferate , rain also adds free weight to a industrial plant ’s surface . After three weeks of almost daily rain in June and July , even the most upright perennials in my garden were take a cryptical and reverent curtain call .

I wish well I ’d had the forethought to stake or corral this oregano moulding in fourth dimension . The extra summate weight unit of rainwater caused the intact row to split in the middle and washout over the sides of the garden bed .

Your flopped plants are smothering their neighbors.

It ’s not a fully grown muckle when perennial flop every now and then , as long as they get back up once they have dry out . Right ?

But the job is when they fall flat on whatever is in their route , such as other plant . The shorter plants will be smothered or stunt through no fault of their own . So corral the lanky buds in the garden early enough to prevent this is the good answer .

They may also flop over path and sidewalks and become a slew peril .

You’re growing plants with brittle stems.

In my experience , this is often a problem with some of the annuals I ’m grow . Even though they ’re not top - profound – in fact , their flowers are quite small and dainty – these plant life just have very brittle stems that crack in strong winds . This effect is normally heighten by a reasonably weak root organisation , typical of annuals , that ’s not secure enough to hold the plant upright .

Some cosmos motley are guilty of this behavior , either snap out of nowhere or incline so close to the undercoat that the bloom are confront downwards .

Your garden looks untidy.

I ’m quite a fan of an untidy garden , but up to a point in time . When the perennials have their feet in the border and their heading founder over on the pavement , that ’s not a pretty sight . Neither is clumps of plants that have separate in the middle and flopped in all four directions . Not to mention the inadvertent creation of horizontal tangles .

There ’s a okay line between a messy garden and inviolable chaos ; most of the clip staking your plants can make a conflict between an eyesore and a backyard haven .

How do I stake plants correctly?

Hopefully , my arguments for industrial plant staking have help you decide that this gardening line is worth the problem . ( If you ’re not convinced , keep reading . ) There are a few method to do this , depending on the layout of your garden and the plants that need a mo of excess vertical documentation . If you walk into any gardening center , you ’ll find shelf – sometimes even rows – of plant backup . So I let in that knowing which I to choose can get a bit overpowering .

I ’ve simplify plant post options into two family .

Stake your plants using single canes.

In my suburban garden , where space is at a insurance premium , using bamboo canes stimulate the most sense . I buy them in set of five ( retentive ones ) or ten ( shorter ones ) ; and since I take them out of the ground and store them ironical over wintertime , I rarely have to put back them .

I prefer to use bamboo because it ’s sturdy , whippy and it ’s really affordable . If a pole breaks beyond any employment , I just bewilder it in my compost bin and it leaves no trace behind . But you do n’t have to adhere to bamboo . you’re able to also line up stakes made out of woodwind instrument , metal or plastic .

Another good source of wager is your own garden . A couple of twelvemonth ago , I started saving the raspberry canes that I was pruning off to use as supports for my dahlia . As much as possible , I discase the spike off to make them smooth before using them .

My tools of the trade will always include bamboo canes for staking.

Simply sneak in the stake into the primer next to the plant , an inch or two away from the main stem . Then use some natural string or string to tie the root word to the bamboo cane . Do n’t damage the stem by tying your plant too tightly . It should still be capable to gently rock in the wind , but without breaking . you may secure it in multiple spot if the plant is tall .

Also worth considering is the depth at which you dump the stake . If you ’re trying to shore up a grave plant , such as a dinnerplate Dahlia pinnata , stick the cane at least six inches ( 12 cm ) thick .

Stake your plants with ring supports.

You ’ll sometimes see themfor sale as peony rings . These support come in dissimilar shapes – vacuous ring , semi - forget me drug or a orbitual grid . Personally , I think tomato cages fall under this family as well .

Ideally , you ’d adventure this case of support in the background when the works is vernal . As the works matures and fill out , it will grow through the rotary or the grid which will then support it 360 grade .

Ring back work really well as prophylactic staking for plants that will become top - ponderous ( such aspeoniesand dahlias ) or to corral plants that grow a bit lanky and unruly ( such asfoxgloves , Russian sageand Nipponese bellflowers ) .

My ‘Cafe au Lait’ dahlia is really the size of a dinner plate.

The advantage of using ring keep is that it ’s generally a once and done business . You do n’t have to keep adjusting and add together more ( or tall ) stake as the season progresses . The disadvantage of using them is that they ’re not very adjustable . You have to set them in place when the plant is untried and can only remove them when the plant is come on its remnant .

When do I need to stake plants?

Ideally , the best time to stake plants is when they ’re too young to need it , in spring . This is called preventative staking and it will lay aside you a lot of problem in the tenacious run . So if you get organized early , you could do what ’s calledpreventative staking . When it come in to plants such as peonies , that need to acquire through the ring support to showcase their full beaut , this is the ideal scenario .

In a more accurate horticulture scenario though , former outpouring is when I have other things on my mind . graft seedling , taking cuttings , crop perennialsall take middle stage . Staking flora is not even on my microwave radar . Most of the time , I terminate up doing what ’s ring remedial staking , when I prop up fledged plants if and when they need it . So I terminate up using a lot of bamboo canes to prop up mid - sized plants .

The one whoremaster that always help oneself is to remember to size up the support ( height - wise ) because I ’ll always end up tying it higher and higher as the plant grow . The one exception to this is some staking that I do at transplant meter . For instance , for the Dahlia pinnata that I started indoors in pots , I stick the stakes in the ground at the same time as the tubers . I still had to upsize them as the plant matured .

The entire oregano border flopped over the side of the bed after three weeks of rain.

How can I avoid staking plants?

That sounds like too much of a hassle. Can I avoid staking plants?

This was my precise intellection process one summertime , when I spend three consecutive weekend pass back and forth to the garden nitty-gritty to buy more stakes . I was always underestimating how many plants would necessitate staking and how presently .

If you see plant staking as a job you ’d rather skip , here are a few way you could debar it , starting with the preparation point of your garden .

Look for the mini version cultivars of your favorite plants.

In today ’s plant market , it ’s very easy to find different cultivar for almost every popular ornamental plant . If you want to obviate staking , look for cultivar that maintain a summary size . Words such as “ little ” , “ mini ” , or “ dwarf ” are usually a good indication of a variety that has been bred to appease small at due date .

For case , opt for Black - eyed Susan ‘ Little Goldstar ’ or ‘ Viette ’s Little Suzy ’ or else of the taller ‘ Goldsturm ’ .

you may even find oneself littler versions of notorious floppers such as peonies . calculate for ‘ Fairy Princess ’ , ‘ small Red Gem ’ and ‘ London . ’

Tall Japanese anemone cultivars usually need staking.

Another trick is to buy cultivars that have been specially created for container , even if you be after on growing them in full soil in the garden .

Keep in mind the sunlight requirements.

This is something I care to call “ wishplanting ” and I ’ve been guilty of it myself over and over again . You descend in dear with a flora that expect full sun , get it home , then substantiate your garden only gets part Lord’s Day . You plant it anyway , right ?

Most of the time , this works just hunky-dory . At most , the only side outcome will be fewer flower or slow growth . But in some cases , it can also guide to plants develop overly grandiloquent and skinny in a futile attempt to pass on for more sun .

Avoid overfertilizing your plants.

The unspoilt direction to amend the health of your plants is by ameliorate the health of your grime . And the salutary way to do that is by adding a layer of sweet compost to your soil in spring , as your perennial are starting to grow again . This allows your plant to take in balanced amount of nitrogen , atomic number 19 and atomic number 15 .

However , when you utilise synthetic fertilizer , you ’re giving your plants the equivalent weight of energy shot . Doing that a couple of metre every season ( depending on the plant ) is o.k. . But overfertilizing , especially with feed that are high in nitrogen and potassium , often leads to new ontogenesis that ’s often leggy and that will eventually require to be propped up .

Avoid planting tall perennials in windy locations.

When we bring a new flora to the garden , we usually opine about its sun and lachrymation needs . We seldom believe about wind exposure . What might be strong wind for a repeated might not even register for us . Unfortunately , this is one of those factors that is impossible to shift . We can only conform .

In a good - case scenario , we can plant windbreak such as hedges , bush or trees . But when these summation do n’t make sense in the garden , we have to conform by opt perennials that are low to the ground . They are less potential to shake and snap if the hint gets too strong .

What plants might need staking?

I ’ve compiled a list of plants that will most commonly need staking . Please note that I left out perennials that have a climbing design and other vine , such as clematis , jasmine and honeysuckle which will always require a treillage to mount on .

Most of the times , these plant will postulate to be patronize by stakes :

Oriental poppies ( genus Papaver orientale )

Cosmos is very pretty, but will lean all over the place if you don’t stake it.

Peonies ( Paeonia lactiflora )

delphinium ( Delphinium )

Larkspur ( Consolida ajacis )

This tall Rudbeckia proves my point, I think.

Dahlias , especially the dinnerplate cultivar

Goldenrod , especially the elephantine motley ( Solidago gigantea )

Crocosmia

Bamboo canes are a sturdy and sustainable choice for staking plants.

Foxglove ( Digitalis , especiallyDigitalis grandiflora )

Sneezeweed ( Helenium )

Zinnia

Pruned raspberry canes make excellent dahlia supports.

Hollyhocks(Alcea )

magniloquent yarrow ( Achillea millefolium )

Annual andperennial sunflowers(Helianthus )

You may need to intertwine the supports if you’re propping up a bigger patch.

Nipponese anemone(Anemone hupehensis )

Sweet pea plant peak

Joe Pye Weed ( Eutrochium )

Japanese bellflower (Platycodon) held together by a ring support.

Sea Charles Hardin Holley ( Eryngium )

False indigo ( Baptisia )

Garden phlox ( Phlox paniculata )

This Eryngium got its stake in early spring, right when it started growing again.

Russian salvia ( Perovskia )

grandiloquent marigolds ( Tagetes erecta )

improbable coneflower ( Echinacea )

The same Eryngium growing around the stake in summer.

Peruvian lilies ( Alstroemeria )

Cosmos ( Cosmos )

Tall asters ( Aster )

Baby dahlias and their stakes before I transplanted them to the garden.

In the oddment , I clear that I draw near stake plants with the same position I have towards a lot of gardening line of work : as a cognitive process of tryout and error that has plenteousness of room for creative thinking and resourcefulness .