So Frustrated: Isn't there a better way of staking??

17 years ago

There has to be a better way! This year I am growing, for the first time, some varieties that are taller (for me), that are about 3-4 feet. These are in a mixed perennial bed. They were all pinched well at starting and as often as I could until they started budding.

I have staked these things like crazy. They still are curling, twisting, sprawling every which way. My bamboo stakes just fall over with the weight of the stems. I pushed them down as far as they could go. I planted a row spaced out at about a foot apart. Wouldn't you know, they are ALL spawling into a pile in the center! It's like an unruly football pile-up. (I should check and see if there's a football under there!) I can't tell you how many branches have snapped off while trying to straighten this mess out. The worst offender is Akita: gorgeous flowers like a Japanese chrysanthemum, ALL facing downward due to their weight.

My husband really dislikes seeing stakes sticking up all over the garden. (He's a tidy-garden person) How else can I do this? I thought of tomato cages but they would look tacky too. It's a formally-designed raised bed, so I agree with him on this; if only I could think of something else.

It's too late for this year: but I want to plan ahead. Maybe make something over the winter. I used peony cages for my phlox this year, but they would be both too wide and too short for dahlias. I looked in garden centers at those decorative wire "obelisks", but they were SO expensive (like $40 and up).

What can I do? It's so great to have something blooming besides my asters at this time of year. But not so great when all the flowers face down!

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Comments (7)

sgazelle
17 years ago
Linnea56
I use 5/8 inch rebar, painted dark green and cut at 5' I pound around a foot to a foot and a half into the ground. I then tie to rebar from center stalk. I rented a rebar cutter from Home Depot for around $20.00 for 4 hours or you can also rent it for 24 hours. A ten foot 5/8 inch length rebar is around $5.00, cut in to two pieces and you have a stake for around $2.50. It is at least a two person job, possibly 3. I am going to cut another 50 this winter. I have around 185 Dahlias and this is how I stake them, it is also easy to put name tags on each stake.
Gazelle
plantlady2
17 years ago
We use green & white metal farm fence posts in the show garden & the plants grow up & cover the post so very little of it shows. A few years ago I had a customer that was WAY picky & didn't want ANY post showing so my son invented a copper post that "grew" by adding sections on as the plant grew. The customer loves them!
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upwithdahlias
17 years ago
I too think stakes are ugly! Check out the link below for what I think is a better idea.

Also, if you are growing varieties like Akita, planting a foot apart a bit close. I grow anything other than short border dahlias spaced 2 1/2 feet apart. Anything much closer is an invitation to mildew and tall lanky plants.

Here is a link that might be useful: Supporting Dahlias - A NO Stake NO Tie System
crocosmia_mn
17 years ago
Last year I put some of my Dahias inside of iron obelisks -- expensive, yes, but perhaps if you could buy or rent a rebar bender you could make your own using wire or those black plastic ties instead of welding to hold the thing together (I visited a garden where the guy had made a huge arbor using only rebar and the ties.)
{{gwi:656299}}

This year, a huge Helenium flopped over onto an unstaked Dahlia "Arabian Night" (same Dahlia as first photo) and flattened it and so the Dahlia just grew like that, much shorter and in the front of the border with the 'Profusion Fire' zinnias -- I really liked it! Next year I will try to do this on purpose with some of the smaller-flowered Dahlias ie stake them DOWN instead of trying to stake them UP. Too weird?
{{gwi:656302}}
Sorry about the huge photos!
Poochella
17 years ago
Love that obelisk. Did you paint it to match the flower? Bet your house is beautiul if you decorate for Christmas.
Looks great!
bouquet_kansas
17 years ago
Years ago my husband found some concrete wire at a yard sale that was cheap cheap cheap......he used some of it to make cages for his tomatoes....he made the rest of the wire into 4 ft cages for my dahlias....he cut the bottom horizontal wire off so there were vertical wires to stick into the ground....i used old wood stakes from my neighbor to tie the plants up initially and as the dahlias grew...the cages kept the plants contained as they grew taller....we use them every year now...works very well for us....
carol
nancyd
17 years ago
I feel your pain. I always lost gorgeous dahlias each year myself until I found a product through Gardener's Supply Company. They sell tomato and vegetable ladders (one is tall, one is shorter). See the link below. They sell them in groups of 5. Your hubby has to realize that you must have some staking system with dahlias, but I know where he's coming from. I always felt that it looked like a graveyard in my beds until the plants grew up.

These ladders were the least obnoxious and most sturdy that I've yet to find. This was my first year with them and I can't recommend them highly enough. You can weave the plants through them as they grow or tie them onto the cage easily. These ladders are so much more stable than stakes or the usual tomato cages because of the way they are designed. The Achilles' heal of most staking systems is that the plant is a lot heavier than the stake that is used to support it - which is why they fall over. Not true with these ladders - they are substantial. Once you push them into the ground, they don't move. Plus the green coloring blends right into the plants; and you can attach your plant tags easily to the frame. I can only grow 10-12 dahlias in my yard, so for me they are worth the one-time investment. For people that grow more, it would probably be too expensive - it really depends on how many you need. We've had some large wind and rain storms recently and they have not budged. They're good with any plant that needs support, not just dahlias or vegetables, so they have multiple uses. I used one to grow a clematis against my birdfeeder pole and one for a morning glory vine, and you know how big and heavy those can get.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tomato and Vegetable Ladders

So Frustrated: Isn't there a better way of staking??

Comments (7)

sgazelle

plantlady2

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