There’s nothing quite like a summer squall to remind us that some plants need a little help standing up on their own. Last week’s rains did just that for me. My garden was proud and perky and standing tall before Mother Nature dropped three quarters of an inch of rain on it. The weight of all that water on the foliage caused limbs to bow down, sometimes all the way to the ground, and in some cases even snap off. It wasn’t a pretty sight and yet I could have prevented a lot of it had I just done some preventative staking.

Keeping the garden vertical is an ongoing challenge. Of course it makes the most sense to start early while our plants are still small. People who grow dahlias know this all too well. When they plant their dahlia tubers they usually drive a stake into the ground at the same time. Then as the plant grows they can secure it to the stake every foot or so and never worry about rain or wind knocking it over. Smart gardeners, those dahlia growers.

On the other hand, driving stakes all over the garden when we first plant things tends to make it look like we are growing stakes instead of flowers. So over the years gardeners have come up with creative ways to hold plants up inconspicuously. The English have it down to an art. They save old twigs and small limbs from the previous winters and arrange them over the young plants in spring. The plants then grow up through them and by mid-season the twigs have become invisible and the plants are well supported.

If you don’t want to mess with twigs and branches then look for a product called a “Grow Through Ring.” It looks like a barbeque grill with legs and is usually coated with a green vinyl so it blends into the landscape. They work fabulous for plants that grow only 2-3 feet tall. Try them on perennials such as peonies, asters, daisies and mums. At the end of the season simply lift them off the plants and hang them on the garden shed wall. You can use them over and over again, unlike a twig that eventually rots.

For plants that are already too tall for the Grow Through Ring there’s the “Link Stake”. These are “L” shaped pieces of steel that link to each other to form a corral around your plant. You can hook as few as three or as many as you need to surround a clump of foliage. They are usually sold in packets of 5 or 6 and are surprisingly inexpensive. Again, they are coved in green vinyl so they blend and can be reused for many years. I must have a hundred of these in my shed that get put into service every year about this time.

Whether you use cedar stakes, bamboo poles or metal supports like rebar, the trick is to support the plants without it looking like they are in a straight jacket. I have found the best way to accomplish this is to drive some stakes into the center area of the plant and then attach several loops of string that extend out from the center and capture a handful of stems. By doing it this way you can gently give the plant some extra support without cinching the whole mass to one stake. The overall effect is much more natural and pleasing to the eye.

For single stems there is the “Loop Stake”, also know as a “Blossom Support”. This year my lilies were so tall that even the Loop Stakes wouldn’t hold them up so I used some of those spiral supports that are sold for tomatoes. They did a remarkable job of keeping my lilies perfectly straight and the sight of the stem weaving through the spiral was kind of cool too. Of course next year I will install them much sooner. Right!

You can have lots of fun with supporting devices in your garden. They can add structure where structure is lacking. I have several steel obelisks for growing beans on, a few flat rusted fence panels for peas and several decorative pieces of rebar for clematis. They give me height where I need it for balance and screening where I want to articulate the space. For permanent situations, there is always the garden arbor.

If you haven’t done any staking in your garden yet then let this last rain storm be a warning. Get those supports in place now. You wouldn’t want to be caught with your plants down, now would you?

Steve Smith is owner of Sunnyside Nursery in Marysville. You can reach him at 425-334-2002 or email at info@sunnysidenursery.net.