staKinG 77
in most cases it’s best to pinch or cut them off; the stems will branch and fill in.
Criss-crossing bamboo stakes is an effective way to hold up sections of
low-growing plants such as nepeta or geranium.
If done properly, staking can help to greatly improve the appearance of many
perennials. Don’t let the plants fool you. One year my ‘Alaska’ Shasta daisies were
looking stocky and upright, and I thought I was going to get away with not
staking them. The gardens were to be photographed by a magazine, but that very
night a major storm came through and knocked the plants silly. Needless to say,
since then I have staked regardless of whether they looked like they were going
to need it, because normally they do. Remember to remove the stakes after plants
have been cut back. Empty stakes hovering over fresh new foliage is as obtrusive
as any unstaked plant on its worst day.
Rudbeckia nitida ‘Herbst-
sonne’ cut back by half in
early June produces a
shorter, 41/2- to 5-ft.-tall plant
such as this, which won’t
require staking even in a
garden exposed to winds.