by James Alexander-Sinclair
A lot of plants are, like stragglers from a hen night, not very good at remaining upright without some support.
A lot of plants are, like stragglers from a hen night, not very good at remaining upright without some support. (Although they are much less likely to wear unnecessarily short skirts or disgrace themselves in shop doorways).
I'm very lucky to live next door to a wood. At this time of year, my younger son and I venture forth with loppers and bow saw to coppice some hazel. Coppicing is an ancient form of woodland management where cutting particular trees down leads to regrowth from the stump. Where you once had one stem you then have many which, depending on the variety, have different uses. Ash has always been used for arrows, sweet chestnut for fencing pales, willow for weaving and (in this case) hazel for pea sticks and hedge-laying.
We drag back bundles of branches that I then stick in the ground around the borders. Initially, the place appears to be colonised by enormous nesting birds, but this framework will soon be covered with plants which will, like matrons in whalebone girdles, benefit from firm support.
There are, of course, alternatives as not everybody has access to sufficient twiggery. I also have an unattractive, but very effective, pig wire cage to support my very tall rudbeckias - acceptable because it remains hidden behind a hedge, invisible from the house. There are a number of metal plant supports widely available that link together, making enclosures for each plant. Wonders can also be achieved using bamboo canes and string. With larger borders it's often effective to use wire or plastic netting stretched horizontally and supported by posts about 60cm high. The plants then grow through the netting. All very well, provided that you don't need to do much weeding - preparation is all. However, gardeners are nothing if not ingenious and I've seen delphinium flowers supported by bedsprings and clematis growing through old window frames. I'm sure there are other examples out there.
It is really, really important to get any necessary staking done early, before plants have grown too much - or at all. Otherwise you end up trying to drag collapsed plants upright, which never works. We've all seen things tied to canes, looking very uncomfortable and more like tethered voodoo effigies than plants.
