Staking-what works best?

Not something I've really got the hang of yet :")
This year, I bought some rings from wilkos that slide onto a cane. But the canes/sticks they sell in wilkos are either too big or too small. So they're not working too well.
So what can you recommend?
Thanks

 

I will be honest daisy you have bamboozled me,When i stake anything it usually with bamboo cane and a little twine.

 

What are you staking? I really think the kind of staking depends on the plant.

 

True.

 

Well, I've got gladioli, delphinium, lupins, caryopteris, dicentra, linum....
Just tying it to a stake seems to give it a really unnatural look, that's why I tried the rings.

 

Daisy, if you want them to look natural, why not just leave them alone? They don`t get staked in the wild.:thumb:

 

if yove got acess to a table saw then buy some two by one roofing batten and cut it in half, paint with green paint and cut to lengths, this is what i use at several propertys I work at.

 

I use the metal coat hangers you get from dry cleaners.

I snip the hook off and bend it unto what looks like a giant staple, then I bend the top of the "staple" into a curve and then push it into the ground. Free is always best, and the wire is so thin you can`t see it especially if the plants have reasonable foliage.

 

Daisybelle - at Waterperrie they use twigs laid high across the crowns of things like delphs and etc. Looks most unnatural in early spring but by the time the plants come into flower - the twigs are invisible. However if you look at the attached picture you will see that even they use stakes on particular blooms. I stick a stake in the centre of the group and use twine - rather than individual plants forms a more natural shape.

 

"I bought some rings from wilkos that slide onto a cane. But the canes/sticks they sell in wilkos are either too big or too small. So they're not working too well"

I would venture to suggest that the trick is in the tying-to-the-cane method.

Forget the rings, they will be hard to get "just the right size" for each eventuality.

Basically you want to do one, or both, of these two things:

You want to stop the plant wobbling about

You want to support the plant so that the cane takes the weight off the plant's stem.

Either way, the plant must not be tied so tightly that the stem cannot grow and expand.

I have three methods, the third is my preferred but is a cheat!

1) I cut a piece of twine about4" long. I tie it to the cane with a single half-hitch (i.e. the first part of the knot you tie when you tie your shoe laces) with the knot part on the same side as the plant. I tie this in the middle of the twine, leaving two equal-length "ends".

I bring the ends round the plant's stem and tie loosely [so plant stem has room to grow] with a "granny knot" - same as above, but done twice.

This will support the plant's weight, but cannot easily be moved up/down the cane if needed.

2) Using twine I normally do this in preference, because it is quicker. Loop the twine round the plant's stem, then FULLY round the cane (not just half way round, which is the minimum to make a loop containing plant + cane) and then tie at the back, or side, of the cane. The complete loop round the cane, whilst it does not have a knot to secure it, will stay put for two reasons a) the plant's weight will tighten the cane-loop and prevent it slipping, and b) the cane has "nodes" that are thicker, and stop the string slipping down easily.

If you need to move the plant down the cane you can loosen the loop-round-the-cane to slide it past a Node in the cane [OK it's fiddly, but can be done]

3) Use a Max Tapener. You probably see the result of these on plants in your local garden centre - a piece of plastic tape, about 0.5cm wide, round plant + stick, with a staple through it. They are not particularly good at carrying the plant's weight (e.g. tying a Tom to a cane where you want the weight of the trusses to be borne by the Cane, and not the plant's stem) but they are great for just keeping plants "going up" the cane - like sweet peas, or floppy upright things like Fushia's being trained to Standards, or tree seedlings and so on.

But not very green [uses plastic tape] and not cheap - 40-quid or so - but I can tie up 100 sweet peas in less then 5 minutes ... in my opinion this is a great tool if you have a serious amount of tying up to do