Garden Staking
What is garden 'staking'?
Garden staking refers to supporting a plant. We can use heavily branched dead branches, we can use hoops or rings, or we can crisscross bamboo stakes. Anything that we are using to help support a plant, to keep it from toppling in the wind.
What is 'pea staking'?
Pea-staking is when we're using heavily branched, or dead branches to have plants grow up besides. So when plants are very small we can place the pea-staking in, the plant then grows around it, and hides the staking material which is used for support. It's a plant that's already growing in the garden and is fairly developed in it's lifecycle, so we can take the pea-staking and use it as a prop right underneath the plant to lift that plant up off of neighboring perennials or annuals.
When is the best time to stake my flowering plants?
Ideally we wouldn't want to stake when the plant is about a third of its mature height, or after the first flash of growth. Too often we stake late, after the plants have started to mature and a flower storm comes through. Plants have already toppled over and we pull them up - I call it ‘choking staking.' We've got them stretched up, and little flower heads are just dangling there. That's too late. That's one of the problems with staking, that you really need to do it early. This means that staking material is evident in the garden early on.
What should I use to stake my plants?
I prefer to use natural materials; items such as branches from dead limbs, heavily branched branches from trees or shrubs, you can use bamboo, or anything else that looks natural. I really prefer people not use some of the artificial looking staking material. Actually I prefer people to prune the plants prior to flowering in an effort to reduce their height and eliminate the need for staking all together.
How do I stake a plant with a single upright stem?
Plants with single upright stems do respond well to pruning prior to flowering, in an effort to make them a little sturdier, or you can take a single bamboo stake or a single branch and use twine, anything that's natural looking. Use a figure eight on the plant to prevent the stem from touching the staking material, and then tie the plant to the stake. Usually we'll try to hide it and may put a leaf over where we've done our tying.
How do I stake full bushy plants?
One of my favourite methods of staking busy plants is pea staking, where we're using heavily branched, dead stem and we prop it underneath the plant that's flopping.
How do I stake perennials that have fallen?
That takes a little skill. You can use a criss-cross method, where you take two bamboo sticks or two branches and cross them and that kind of just props things up a little bit. It's very difficult to go in once the plant has fallen and make it look good. So, even a very elaborate criss-cross twine staking will not hold up a plant once it has already fallen.
