If You Hate to Stake There are many plants that will get through the season without stakes, depending on how exposed and windy your garden is. Experiment over with new plants, grow shorter varieties of spires and verticals, e.g. larkspur instead of delphiniums, and stay away from some of the very tall salvias and campanulas.
Tall plants that are pinched back about a month into the growing season will be shorter, but still flower. Carefully remove the growing tip, but not flower buds, and the plant will branch, becoming bushier and lower.
Other plants will withstand wind better if the growth is reduced during winter. Guara lindheirmeri and Perovskia atriplicifolia (Russian sage) can both do without staking if you cut them back each season before growth begins.
Plants that are fine without staking are many.
Don't Overdo it As in everything beautiful gardens require a balance. Some plants demand support or they end up dragging through the dirt on windy days. Some plants are simply not meant to be staked.
Some like to control as much as possible in the garden while others like a more natural, carefree look. Take care that the garden doesn't end up looking as if it is littered with scaffolding; the building site look is definitely not a good one. You can expect some damage after an especially fierce gale, but judicious, well-camouflaged supports will still reduce the amount of wreckage.
Look and assess carefully before climbing into your plants with stakes and twine in hand, and ask 'Will it bend or break, and does what support does it need, if any?'
The whole point of the billowing clouds of gypsophila and catmint (Nepeta sp) is that they billow and, well, flop a bit. Rogersias have wonderful foliage and a flower spike that rise well above the leaves; staking these looks definitely odd.
Border brilliance Staking is all a matter of choice, but one that doesn't have to equate to a heavy-handed, ready for force-nine gale approach. There are many options, many ingenious ways to get plants to hold up in the wind.
It is a case of the early bird getting the worm. Getting stakes, peasticks and supports in place before plants have grown too much is the key to getting it right. With good planning, timing and choosing plant material with climate and personal style in mind, you can consign those old tights to the dustbin where they belong.
