Dodge the horror of a frightful flop
Start staking plants now or a summer storm is certain to f latten your pride and joy
THEY are one of the ultimate garden status symbols: wellplanned, perfectly planted beds and borders that are guaranteed to turn neighbours green with envy. Packed with an array of perennials in peak physical condition, they’ll provide a sensational show of colour from late spring until the first frosts of autumn.
Well, here’s a word of warning. If you don’t install supports around some perennials, it’s irrelevant how long you spent planning, preparing or selecting plants. It only needs a gust of wind to knock down tall stems or a downpour to flatten a flowered- covered beauty, turning a majestic display into a frightful flop.
The best way to ensure there’s a long-lasting spectacle is to shore up susceptible perennials in spring – shoots will grow quickly through supports and hide them from view. Leave until later and it’s hard to put anything
Without supports, all of your careful planning and planting will be for nothing
in place without damaging plants, and the supports tend to stand out like a sore thumb.
There are many ways of supporting perennials, depending on their growth habit. Clumps can be surrounded by ‘cages’, while circular grilles will prevent bushy perennials with heavy flowers from slumping. Stake tall stems individually and use brushwood to restrain lower-growing ones with weak shoots.
Among plants that need a helping hand to remain upright are aster, alstroemeria, helenium, and other clump formers with thin stems. Also, those that have a naturally floppy habit, such as lady’s mantle, crocosmia and gypsophilia, along with delphiniums, verbascum, Inula magnifica and similar giants.
Purpose- built devices, such as linking stakes, wire mesh rings and adjustable single- stem supports, are widely available from mail- order suppliers. However, it’s possible to create home-made supports for some plants by recycling twiggy prunings taken from shrubs or using bamboo canes from the shed.
Oriental poppies, peonies and other weak-stemmed plants with l arge flower heads are easily propped up with plant- support rings. Consisting of a wire-mesh grid fixed to three legs, it should be pushed into the ground above each individual clump. Set at half the mature height of the plant, so it’s eventually hidden by foliage.
Made from powder-coated steel wire, linking stakes come in packs of six and connect together so you can completely encircle a sizeable clump – there are three different widths and seven heights, from 12in to 40in, and they should be pushed into the soil to half the plant’s eventual height.
Another option is to make your own ‘cage’. Surround clumps with bamboo canes set 12in apart and then run twine around the outside – wind it across the structure several times to provide further support. Once plants have reached full height, reduce the size of canes so they are less visible.
So-called pea sticks (lengths of hazel, willow and alder) are traditionally used to bolster weak, fleshy stemmed perennials. In reality, you can use prunings from any shrubs. Simply push into the ground among perennials or, if they are flexible, bend them inwards to form a loose dome above clumps.
Support lanky stems with a stout cane, placed a few inches away from the plant. Loosely tie together with soft twine, using a figure-of-eight knot to give the stem room to expand. Loopstakes are an off- the- shelf alternative, featuring a steel rod with a wire ring that goes around the stem and can be moved up as it grows.
There’s no need t o get carried away and prop up every perennial. Some have stems that are sturdy enough to cope with wind and rain, or they might be braced by woody plants around them.
And in my opinion, a little bit of gentle floppiness is often desirable at the front of beds and borders.