When I was young, I designed sets for summer-stock companies and loved every minute of it. The theaters were cramped and cluttered backstage, and the scenery was jerry-built. But when the house lights dimmed and the curtain went up, the mundane became magical.

Gardeners create magic, too, using the simplest of tools: stakes, string, and wire grids. Picture-perfect perennial borders are no more “real” than stage sets. Delphin­iums and tall Asiatic lilies only maintain their regal bearing with support from appropriately placed stakes, while large peony clumps compose themselves within steel rings.

I did not set out to become an expert on staking. I used to consider it a tedious chore, but as I learned how to do it successfully, I became intrigued with the whole process. You have to understand the natural shape and growth habit of each plant and find an appropriate method of maintaining its carriage without drawing attention to the means. The key is to stake early, stake appropriately, and keep an eye on the plants as they grow. There are three ways to support your plants: grow-through grids, corset systems created with stakes and string, and single stakes of many different lengths to which individual stems of tall or heavy-headed plants can be tied with garden twine.

For the best results, set the grid a few inches above a plant early in the season, before the leaves mature. Attach the legs one at a time—they hook around the rim of the grid—and push them into the ground. Space the legs equidistant from each other if possible. When well placed and installed at the right time of year, the grid will disappear completely beneath the expanding foliage. You will have to revisit the plant periodi­cally during the season and, in some cases, raise the grid and replace the legs with longer ones to keep pace with new growth.

Corset systems keep tall floppers in line

Plants like peonies don’t put on much new vertical growth after flowering, but grasses and tall summer-blooming perennials can double or triple in height and girth. A grid set in spring may be inade­quate, therefore, for the task of supporting the same clump in August. The next step is to add a circle of five or six 8-foot-tall stakes around the outside of the grid. Drive the stakes into the ground, tilting them away from the clump at a slight angle. The purpose of the tilt is to retain the desired vase shape of the mature plant. Grab a ball of green twine, and tie the free end around the first stake about 18 inches higher than the grid. Continue running a course of string around each successive stake until you end up where you started. Tie the two ends of the string in a knot. From the front of the bed, you shouldn’t see either the corset of string or the stakes. But it takes practice to do it well. Depending on the ulti­mate height of the plant, you may have to run another course or two of string around the stakes to support a late growth spurt.

Tip: The right way to attach a stem to a stake

Photo/Illustration: Kerry Ann Moore

Prized blooms deserve their own stakes

There are some tall plants that look better if you don’t stake them until they have almost reached their maximum height. ‘Lavender Mist’ meadow rue (Thalictrum rochebruneanum ‘Lavender Mist’, Zones 5–9) and many Asiatic lilies (Lilium cvs., Zones 3–8) belong in this category. Hold off staking meadow rue until it blooms for the first time, and wait for the lilies to form buds. By this time, their stems will have achieved a graceful angle: not too acute but not too upright, either. That is the perfect moment to find a stake that is the same thickness as the stem, thrust it into the ground at the exact same angle, and gently tie the stem to the stake in two or three places.

If all of this sounds like a lot of trouble, remember that it is what happens backstage that creates the magic.