HAZEL STAKING

ANNUAL STAKEOUT
One of the jobs I particularly enjoy every year in the garden is building plant supports. I have been creating some fancy structures out of hazel rods that I cut from the coppiced trees in a friend’s garden. For the sweet pea structure I have gone for a round wigwam shape and left the inside unplanted, I thought it would be a good place for the children to hide and make a den. In the vegetable patch I’ve gone for a more traditional look with two lines of sticks held together at the top with a horizontal pole tied together with garden twine these will hold up my peas and beans.

Usually the idea of putting supports around plants is so you only see the plants and not the structure that is supporting them, but I think if you use attractive material such as hazel it really doesn’t matter if it is showing. Bamboo is a convenient option as you can buy them from the shops, they should last a couple of years as well. I would not recommend using willow rods, I did this a few years ago in my vegetable patch and they all rooted and grew far better than the vegetables did!

The stakes can be put into place even before the plants go into the ground, this means less root disturbance for the plants. If you have Delphiniums or perennial plants that need staking then these can be pushed into the ground near the new growth. A cautionary note with the shorter supports is to put some form of cover over the top of them, such as an old pot or a made to measure plastic cover. If it wasn’t for me wearing glasses I would have caught myself in the eye with a bamboo stake many a time. Watch out for bamboo splintering when they are pushed into the ground as well, it would be a good idea to wear gloves.

It can be a dangerous business being out in the garden!

Horticultural.