How to Stake Your Plants so that they Eventually can Support Themselves

Probably the main reason why you need to stake your plants is because of the wind. I suppose most gardeners also think of the wind as their enemy especially in areas that are exposed to strong winds for an extended period of time.

I’m a bit different though, I’ve always looked at the wind pretty much as I do with life itself. In life there’s lots of things that can happen to you, and at the time, in varying degrees, some of these things might be described as being less than ideal. Unless of course, you decide to use these things to your advantage and learn from them. That’s how you get stronger and more resilient in life. It’s the same with the wind. It’s the wind that helps your tree or shrub to grow strong roots and branches. Just as with life itself it’s important that sometimes we get some support and help. This is why staking your plants can be so important. But also, just as it’s important in life to get the right help or advice it’s also important that your plants get staked in the correct manner.

Now at this stage it’s important to point out that in theory and in a perfect world you shouldn’t really need to stake your plants at all. It’s a commonly acknowledged that the best size plants to plant in your garden are small tube stock. The tube is designed to force the roots to grow straight and in a downward direction as opposed to a round pot where you quite often find the roots growing around the pot in an unnatural way.

So, not all plants will need to be staked. Quite often though, you’ll buy plants that are top heavy, all the growth is in the foliage and the plant is supported more in the pot by a small stake rather than the plants roots. How often have you seen this? The plant has been grown so that it looks good from above the ground so you the customer will want to buy it.

This is not a good way for a plant to start off in your garden so here’s what I normally do. Firstly, there’s normally more than one plant of that kind to choose from at the nursery. Always pick the one with the best roots over the one that has the most foliage. That’s the one that looks like it will support itself the best without the stake. Then when you get it home depending on the size of the plant and how well it can support itself it may be best to leave this small stake attached, just until it gets a bit more established. Ideally though I normally remove it and replace it and here’s what I do.

Place three stakes around the plant and then use a strong, flexible, non abrasive garden twine to attach the trunk of the plant to each of the stakes. The idea here is to just offer enough support to stop the plant from blowing over in a strong wind but not too much to stop it from moving around in the wind. Now how much support you give the plant is up to your own judgment. If it’s one of those plants that I talked about that you often see in the nurseries then it may need lots of support. It’s this movement that helps the plant to grow strong and eventually support itself. After all, this is the overall objective. Remember staking your plants is only a temporary solution. The idea is for the plant to be able to eventually support itself.

Another thing that I also like to do is soak the plants roots in a bucket of water mixed with some Seasol and Plant Starter. Then tip some of this solution into the hole and the rest around the plant after it is planted. This will give the roots of the plant a bit of a head start to help get it established. If the plant is also a bit top heavy or lanky you can also (if you want to) prune back some of the foliage and this will help take some of the load of the roots. The foliage and the roots can then grow more in proportion.

Above is a small Eucalypt that was in my mothers garden. She wanted to replace it with something else so I dug it up and transplanted it into my garden. Hence the stakes. You can see I’ve just used one piece of twine and threaded it in such a way so that it can still move in the wind.

The two photos above on the left are of a Cordyline that was starting to get blown over by the wind. You can see that all that was required was one piece of twine tied near the base of the trunk. The higher you place the twine the more support. Just remember you only want to support it just enough to hold it in place, you don’t want it to get too reliant on the support. The two photos on the right are an alternative method I’ve used to support this small Melaleuca Nesophila. The roots aren’t strong enough to support it so the plastic shroud will keep it in position until it becomes established.

So just in finishing the important things to remember are, not to support you plants too securely. Never place a stake along side the trunk and just tie it rigidly to the stake because there’s a fair chance that when you do remove the stake,  the plant will just fall over. The theory is to support them just enough to stop them from being blown over. Some movement in the wind is good as it helps make the plant grow strong…. just like life!

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