Help, my plants are falling over! Here's how to support flowers

Lots of picking flowers like dahlias, cosmos, zinnia and snapdragons grow hard when they're having a good time. But how do you make sure your plants don't hit the ground after a gust of wind or heavy summer rain? By supporting them! In fact, annual picker flowers tend to grow very quickly, often resulting in large plants that are subject to Mother Nature's elements. It's up to us enthusiastic gardeners to give them a hand. In other words, support them. Flowers happy, we happy.

Dahlias are so versatile, they come in many guises. Large, small, medium, large flowers and small flowers: you name it, and there is a variety to suit you. Small varieties usually have sturdy flower stems, stay low and thus don't need extra support to grow. The medium and tall varieties, that's another story. These are often plants that grow 80 to as tall as 120 and 140 centimeters. Combine that with many and heavy flowers, and your plants will soon hit the ground after a wind or rain shower. So supporting your plants is important, because although dahlias have fairly sturdy stems, they do catch a lot of wind. And they will only just be your favorite flowers.

You can literally support your plants with anything, but what we prefer not to see in the garden is unnecessary plastic use. There are nets that are flexible and do the job just fine, but are made of plastic. A shame, we think, so we come up with an alternative to support your plants: concrete netting that you place on wooden stakes. With dahlias, they are about 65 to 70 centimeters high, with other picking flowers usually at 40 to 50 centimeters. Your plants grow neatly between the openings and are supported by the netting. The rusty color you get over time blends in well with the garden, and within a few weeks you won't see any of it, as the plants grow through it and everything is covered with flowers. Handy, right?

In the border, support is a different story because the plants are surrounded by other plants. It is difficult to set up a whole structure as with picking flowers, but you can support plants such as dahlias with a bamboo stick or prunings from the garden. Stick it in the ground next to the plant (in the case of dahlias, be careful not to puncture the tuber), secure it with string every now and then and you're done. Also keep in mind that annuals find support from perennials in the border. So you don't always need something to support them. Although an extra is nice in this case.