Supports for plants

Every gardener wants a beautiful garden. But curly, spreading or tall plants need to be grown in a special way, namely, with the help of strong and beautiful supports that fit well into the style of the site. It is almost impossible to grow healthy, beautiful vines without these adaptations. To correctly select or build a support, you need to take into account the power of the plant and its size.

Supports for plants are not only a benefit, but also an element of decor. Using them, you can beautifully decorate a playground, pond or patio. Both artificial supports for plants (arches, trellises, columns) and natural (stumps, trunks, stones) are used, sometimes even combined with each other.

They perform the following practical functions:

• support plants;
• protect the selected area from noise, wind, dust;
• participate in the zoning of the site;
• mask unsightly places, such as outbuildings.

Large bushes, flowers on long stems, and vines usually need support. Support for flowers will prevent them from breaking from rain or wind gusts. Plants without support can bend under their weight and lose their good looks.

Supports for plants are natural and artificial. Natural support can take the form of stones, branches, tree trunks, shrubs, forming a single system together with the main plant.

Artificial supports are of various types.

The most budgetary type of plant support is fiberglass pegs of various diameters. They are made from pipes of different thicknesses and lengths. Composite stakes have many benefits. Firstly, unlike wooden ones, fiberglass supports have long service life (about fifty years old). Second, composite stakes can be used repeatedly in the garden during this entire period. Third, always you can choose the size and color you want. In addition, supports of this type are lightweightwhile at the same time possessing elasticity and flexibility.

Trellis nets are plastic, wood or metal lattice structures. They are installed in the garden for a garter of flowering plants or vines. Lattices can be an independent structure or installed on the walls of buildings. The support structure will help set the desired shape and direction for plant growth.

The dimensions of the trellises and their location depend on the request of the owners: the gratings are installed at an angle or vertically, and the height of such supports usually reaches 1-3 m. The main thing is to securely fix the supports, especially if you plan to cover them with perennial plants. Openwork lightweight designs are suitable for annual plants. If the shoots are correctly distributed, this significantly minimizes the load on the grate, therefore, its service life will increase.

Trellis nets are very often used to tie up various types of plants. Their advantage is that they do not take up much space, are good protection for plants, and also provide the sun with access to vegetation from all directions. Such supports can perform the function of zoning, as well as be part of other structures on the site, for example, gazebos.

Planting is done as follows. They are planted either in the ground itself in the supposed place of support, or in a special container, which is installed near the lattice. In combination with the grate, metal or wooden rods protrude. The structure is necessarily covered with protective agents that prevent corrosion of the material.

The tapestry is definitely not suitable for tying thick, heavy plants - it will quickly lose its appearance and fail. However, it is ideal for fast growing annual plants, especially climbing plants. That is, in the garden, trellises are used to garter clematis, roses, peas, morning glories, rhododendrons, beans, kobei, princes, nasturtium and many other crops.

The next type of support for vegetation is steel wire supports, coated with a powder paint to prevent corrosion. Its average diameter reaches 5 mm, and its height is 80-120 cm. They are spiral and circular. The first looks like a pole wrapped in a spiral that expands downward. The second has the shape of a basketball basket: a straight column with a round top. One of the disadvantages of such a support is a short service life (only a year). The main advantage of this design is its budget and ease of installation.

The arch is a very common architectural form that has been used in horticulture. It is made up of two supports, united at the top by a round / pointed / angular overlap.

As for the appearance of the support, it is recommended to paint it in a neutral color so as not to interrupt the beauty of the plants. If we are talking about large and powerful shoots, it is recommended to make the arch strong and reliable, but in the case of thin plants, the structure is made light, delicate. The arch can be made of almost any material. If there are several arches, they are connected with nets or crossbars.

The parameters of the arch must correspond to the dimensions of the human body so that it can be passed through without obstacles. That is, it should be 1.6 meters wide and 2.3 meters high at least. The main plus of the arch is its versatility, since it is used for garters of all types of vines: hops, clematis, peas, grapes, roses, ivy and many others.

There are other options for supports, no less interesting.

• The most aesthetic form of support is by far the pergola. This Italian word means curtain or extension. It can be rectangular, round or fan-shaped and looks like several arches combined with each other. The pergola is built from a variety of materials (wood is treated with a special antiseptic to prevent rotting, and metal bars should be either painted, or galvanized, or stainless steel). The structure can adjoin any building or be an independent element of decor on the site.

The area of ​​application of the pergola is to darken specific areas in the garden, for example, recreation areas. Thanks to the shade of the plants, the site can be protected from the sun and dust. Combinations of plants are planted near the pergola or one is chosen, for example, nasturtium, beans, grapes, ivy, hops, actinidia. However, it is important to remember that you should not overdo it with planting.

• A type of pergola is a berso, a living green tunnel. It looks like a hemispherical frame, along which climbing plants are planted. This support looks monumental, so it will look organic only in a large garden. Bersault performs an important aesthetic function: it often serves as an entrance to a garden or adjoins a building.In addition, it can be successfully combined with other decorative elements. But the main disadvantage of bersot is that the shoots require constant and painstaking care, multiplied by a large support area.

• Column is another type of support. It is a vertical support that can be made of reinforcement, wood, stone or brick. Represents several posts connected by a rim in certain places. The column is designed for one or two plants, which are planted inside or outside it, and is suitable for both perennial and annual crops.

• In horticulture, pyramid-shaped plant supports are also used. The pyramids have many similarities to the columns: a similar shape (only the pyramids taper upwards), installation in a prominent place in the garden, plus both of these types are considered as separate structures. The pyramid is either a smooth cone or a hollow support with 3 or 4 sides. The material used for the manufacture of cones is very different. The pyramids, which are metal forged and welded structures, support massive stems of perennial climbing plants.

And for a garden in a natural style, where mainly annual bindweed plants are planted, supports made of willow or thin metal rods, as well as homemade pyramids made of untreated wooden stakes, are suitable.

• The gazebo is also one of the types of supports, but at the same time it performs another function - it is a relaxation area in the garden. Any gazebo can be decorated with vines, for example, honeysuckle, calistegia, grapes, roses, morning glory, hops. This will not only give the desired shade, but also create a whole palette of smells in the air. At the dacha, open gazebos with a space between the supports are very often built.

• To support plants, very simple structures are often used, such as supports with coconut fiber or bamboo sticks. The peculiarity of bamboo sticks is that they are hollow, and therefore lightweight, but at the same time have very high strength. Bamboo does not fade in the sun and does not exfoliate, is not afraid of temperature changes and does not sour in water. Based on your goals, you can choose bamboo sticks of the required thickness and length.

• Coconut fiber supports have the same advantages as bamboo support, but have a number of disadvantages.

Each type of support has its own peculiarities of use, which must be taken into account so that the garden looks beautiful and neat.

• For example, for tall stems, supports such as pergolas or pergolas are most often used. They are great for growing flowering outdoor plants, ornamental deciduous vines, tall vegetable and fruit crops.

• The so-called garden sculptures are made using pyramid supports and columns. If the choice fell on fast-growing dense plants like ivy, grapes or hops, then they are perfect for decoration. To make ornamental plants always pleasing to the eye, it is imperative to fertilize them with minerals once a month and regularly trim young shoots.

• For each fruit crop, there are recommendations regarding the support to be used. For example, for raspberries in the country, a trellis is most often installed. Raspberries are tall and therefore require support. Raspberry bushes have very fragile branches and are often injured. Moreover, contact of the leaves and berries of the bush with the ground often leads to infections.Also, raspberries, like any bush, are often supported by a bush holder, which is also used as a support for flowering bushes. Bush holders can be of different shapes and sizes depending on the needs of the buyer, this is a practical and reliable option.

If roof beams, porch floors and other elements of the house are used as support, trimming the plants becomes mandatory. This is done not so much so that they retain their decorative appearance, but in order to keep the roof or the rungs intact. Powerful tree crops, if not cared for properly, can break their footing.

A support for plants does not have to be purchased at the store, because it can be easily made at home. All that is needed in this case is the selected material and some free time. Natural supports are the easiest to craft. This will require natural objects such as trees, bushes or rocks. Bindweed plants easily find support in the form of such supports.

To make such an artificial support as a pyramid, you first need to mark the points where the rods are to be inserted. They are installed at the same distance from each other using a bucket or other round object. Thick strong rods are used for the main ribs.

Wooden sticks of the same length are stuck into the ground in a circle, then a circle is made from a thin branch and fixed with a wire. In this way, a bush holder can be made.

For the next type of support, trellis, a blank is made - a frame of bars. To protect the tree from negative external influences, the boards are covered with an antiseptic. The last step is the installation of slanting planks with a distance of 20 cm on both sides.

The lattice support is produced quickly. First, a rectangle or square is formed from four strong sticks, and then a lattice is made of twine or rope.

The French gazebo, mentioned in this article as bersot, can be constructed from both metal and wood. First, frames are installed two meters from each other. The base is usually made of concrete to ensure the stability and durability of the structure. This will prevent the rods from falling.

The arch is always made with the expectation of the weight of the flowers that will decorate it. It can be massive or light, openwork. It is always recommended to make a concrete base for the arch. For this, four holes are dug one meter deep. After that, crushed stone and sand are poured into them, pipes are inserted into which cement mixed with water is poured. In the last step, the pillars are inserted.