How to support your plants and vines

Making sure your flowers and vines are properly supported in a crucial step in planning any garden. Whether you're planning an elaborate garden or flower bed or simply adding some flowers to a porch or patio, it's important you consider proper supports and trellises to your space. Here are some tips for planning the perfectly supported flowers and vines.

Almost all vines require some type of trellis, and you can be endlessly creative as you devise or purchase arches, iron or wood trellises, or panels of wooden lattice that will hold wandering stems aloft.

• Single, upright pillars and open-work obelisks tend to be unstable after they become heavy with plants, so it is crucial that they be deeply and firmly anchored in the ground.
• Arches are less likely to topple, but if you live in a windy area, it may be best to grow vines on wooden trellises that are securely attached to walls.

• Many bushy and upright perennials also benefit from support, which should be tailored to the growth habit of each plant. For example, tall hollyhocks, lilies and snapdragons can be loosely tied to thin wooden or bamboo stakes pushed into the ground near the base of the plants.
• It is best to use three twine-wrapped stakes to surround each plant, so that the plant will be able to sway in the wind but will not snap off at the point where it is tied to a single stake.
• In order to hold up bushier perennials, such as peonies, that tend to flop over when they become heavy with blossoms, you should invest in metal plant supports fashioned into hoops or grids.
• Other flowers that benefit from circular or grow-through plant supports include balloon flower, foxglove, gladiolus, gypsophila, larkspur, rudbeckia, sneezeweed and tithoni.
• Whether you choose interlocking links, circular grow-through supports or upright metal stakes with "arms" that bend, you will find them invaluable for keeping your favourite flowers high and dry.
• And what could be easier than placing a support ring over a peony when it is just beginning to grow in spring, marking its spot while bracing new stems against the forces of wind and rain?

If you can't find acceptable products at retail stores, check the huge selection of plant supports sold by garden mail-order catalogues and online garden centres.