Something to Lean On (dealing with taller native perennials)

In the latter part of the growing season, many of the native perennials (forbs and grasses)  are naturally taller in height.  Our area’s extra rainfall, making this the wettest July in history, also contributed to their height.  Because  Illinois is the land of the  tall grass prairie, I encourage everyone to embrace our taller native perennials. If you need help, Good-Natured Landscapes knows how to successfully  incorporate taller plants  into traditional and nature-inspired garden designs.

The problems with taller plants is sometimes they can lean or fall over,  although not all taller native plants have this problem.  In a newer native garden, taller plants might be leaning because there are no other plants close by for support due to spacing.  Also, some of  our recent wind storms  have knocked over a few  plants.  Here are some suggestions and tips on how to deal with these problems. Please share your ideas and tips for taller perennial by providing comments.

1. For shorter plants leaning into walkways, paths or other areas: Use 2-3′  foldable wire fencing along the edge of the plants. See photo. Purchase this fencing at any home improvement store or garden center. You can often get this fencing on sale at the end of the season and you’ll be ready  for next year. This type of fencing is barely noticeable since the  plant foliage will often conceal it.
2. For taller  plants leaning into walkways or paths: Place 4-6′ bamboo stakes or poles with natural  jute twine fencing along the garden edge.  I have a pretty tall prairie garden in my side yard, so I have used 6′ bamboo stakes along both sides of the  path going through the garden. I initially spray painted my bamboo in shades of blue and turquoise, then polyurethane  so the stakes are more decorative and  last longer outdoors. I purchased my bamboo at a local supplier.   I set the poles at 4-5′ intervals  along the path,  and pushed them about 6-8″ into the ground. It’s best to insert them when the soil is moist, since clay soils are as hard as concrete when dry.  Then I took natural jute twine and tied it securely about midway in height to the first pole in my path, and then pulled the string taut, and wrapped it  3 times around the next pole, then pulled it taut, and continued  until I reached the last pole, then tied it securely. If needed, you can tie another layer of string further down or higher up, depending on how much support you need.  The twine is barely noticeable since most of the plant  foliage will conceal it. See photos.
3. Wait until the plants fill in. It took about 6 years for the plants in my prairie garden to fill in so that most of the plants support each other, except at the outside edges of the garden, where there is either a mulch or lawn path.   I planted my garden using plugs about 1.5′ apart,   If you start your garden densely from seed,  the garden will probably fill in much sooner.
4. Cut down the plants that are leaning. I have no qualms about cutting back a few of my plants that are leaning across a path because I have so many plants in my mature garden.  I won’t trim plants that are not as prolific in my garden like Rattlesnake Master.  Instead I stake them up if needed.
5. Use  3′- 4′ bamboo poles and jute string to stake up individual plants,  adjusting the string and poles between the foliage to hide as much of it as possible. I really like some of the stakes and supports sold by Gardener’s Supply Company. I recently purchased 66″ tall stem ladder support to hold up my Compass plant stems knocked down by a recent wind storm, and they work great!
6. In late spring – early summer, try trimming or cutting back Aster, Mondarda, Boltonia, Echinacea, Eupatorium, Heliopsis, Physostegia, Rudbeckia, Solidago to about 1/3 in height.   Cutting back these plants will delay their flowering time and reduce their height. Leave some uncut, to stagger flowering time and height.  You can also cut back some of your spring -early summer blooming plants right after flowering like Wild Geranium,  Spiderwort, Wild Indigos,  Canada Anenome, and the ones listed above to prevent them from leaning after flowering.  They may re-bloom.
7. Do not compost, fertilize, over mulch or water established native perennial plants. The extra moisture and rich soils will cause plants to lean.  1″ of finely shredded mulch is all you need around perennials initially but please pull mulch away 1-2″ from plant stems and leaves.   If you cannot keep up with weeding,  add more plants or seeds so plants fill in quicker and can support each other. 

Right now I have twenty flower stalks on my Prairie Dock that are 12′ tall and are ready to pop open. I cannot wait!

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