Did you know that the wind and heavy rain can cause heavy damage to your beautiful blooms? I’ll show you how to support garden flowers to keep them from falling over ad keep them looking lovely.
If you grow tall and bulky flowers in your garden, it’s crucial to provide both strength and support from heavy rain, winds, and the weight of their blooms.
Your stems will grow longer and straighter when supporting your plants, making them the perfect cut flowers.
If I’ve learned anything at all about supporting my flowers in the garden, it’s the importance of setting up a support system for your tall flowers BEFORE any damage takes place.
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I’m a self-taught hobby gardener, not a Master Gardener. Everything I share with you on my blog is my personal opinion and things that worked for me along the way.
Methods to Support Plants and Keep Them From Falling Over
You can choose from a variety of support methods to keep your flowers from falling over. I actually use all of these in my flower garden.
- Netting
- Staking
- Corralling
- Trellising
- Grow Through Supports
1. Staking
A single plant stake is the most common method to support your garden plants.
There are a variety of stakes you can use including wooden, metal, bamboo and plastic stakes.
Drive a 3–4 foot stake about 6-inches into the ground and a couple of inches from the base after the plant is 1-foot tall. Be careful not to damage the roots of the plant.
Use twine, string or hook-and-loop plant ties to tie around the plant as it grows every 6-8 inches.
2. Corralling
Building a corral around an entire bed of tall and bulky plants like dahlias or cosmos is an easy way to support them.
Drive metal or heavy wooden stakes into the ground 4-5 feet above ground at each of the 4 corners of the bed. Additional stakes should be placed every 8-10 feet along the sides. Run string or twine 3 feet above ground around the perimeter of the stakes, pulling tightly.
For plants that are higher than 4 feet, use a second layer of twine that is spaced about 1-foot higher than the first layer.
3. Netting
Use a plastic or mesh netting with 6-inch squares for plants that produce a large amount of branching stems such as snapdragons or zinnias.
Pound metal or heavy wooden stakes at each corner and the perimeter of the garden bed to stick up about 4-feet and a spaced about 8-feet apart. The netting should be about 18-inches above the ground.
Secure the netting by pulling it tight over the stakes or by using zip ties to attach it to the stakes. The netting should be suspended over the plants.
This netting should be set up at the latest before the plant reaches a foot. The plant will grow up through the netting square as they grow taller and will support them through rain and wind.
4. Trellising
Support active and fast-growing climber plants such as sweet peas and clematis with a strong trellis or something similar.
You can create a trellis by using 6-foot tall wooden or metal posts spaced 8-10 feet apart down the row and attaching metal fencing such as chicken wire to the posts.
As the plant vines grow to a foot, secure them to the fencing with twine. Add a new layer of twine up the fence as often as once a week as they continue to grow.
5. Grow-Through Supports
Tomato and wire cages or grids are a great source of support for heavy-headed blooming flowers such as peonies.
Are there any support methods I mentioned that are new to you? I hope this helps you to think about supporting and keeping your tall flowers from becoming damaged.
Leave a comment below. I’d love to hear from you.
Until next time,
Happy Gardening!
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This is so helpful Kim! Thanks for sharing! I’m going to pass on to my followers in my Sunday Round Up post this weekend!