Glad Season!

[digitS']

Gerlinde, thrips cause the most trouble in the glads!

Of course, they may come spilling out whenever I try to put my nose in most any lovely flower.



Since I don't eat them, I'm willing to spray glads & other flowers with some persistent insect killers and that puts a stop to the damage from thrips.

Steve

 

[Rugosa1]

You are correct, there is a remedy for everything. Just as long as you notice the problem right from the start which is not always the case with me. My place it getting to large anymore, it is getting overwhelming, in a good way.

 

[thistlebloom]

I really need some way to hold up lots of stuff. Peonies, sunflowers, even the hysop fell over . So far it is post and twine. Got some nice store bought rings on the wish list.

Not to get all off topic here (sorry Steve ), but I came up with the best "corraling" idea ever, I mean the best for me, not like The Worlds Best or anything. I have customers with lots of peonies, and some of those are humongous and some of my customers are , um, reluctant to part with any cash they don't absolutely have to, and you know how spendy lots 'o cages can be, sooo....I went to Home Dumpo and bought a 50' roll of the black coated 2" x 4" wire, 4 feet tall.

I measured the size I needed for each plant, height and circumference and cut it with the nips. Easy peasy! This fall I will disassemble them and they can be stored flat.
It's best to corral them when they are small enough to still grow through the wire.
I also used 1' tall sections to hold up daylily leaves that hung over the lawn, that the lawn guys weed whip or mow regularly. ( Yeah, tattered leaves are such an attractive look :/ ) .
I've used them for any sprawly perennial, you can make them any height you want, and best of all the black wire disappears into the background and you can't even see it!
My customers think I'm a genius, and I'm okay with fooling them.

 

[Rugosa1]

What a good idea, Kristi I bet you have an immaculate looking garden.

 

[ninnymary]

Thistlebloom..Do you just make circular cages with the wire? At first I thought the wire was on top of the plant and was wondering how you held it up. I've tried making cages but my perennials just flop on the outer edge of the cage and there is nothing in the middle. Hope I'm making myself clear! Got any pictures?

Mary

 

[digitS']

I am curious too, Thistle'.

I didn't know that you could buy black coated "2" x 4" wire, 4 feet tall." This is like livestock fencing, right?

And, then you are making something like a tomato cage?

By the way, Thistle', many years ago (my 1st year in college), I was the lawn mower guy at the senior Hagadones' home. Right beside the Cd'A city park. We didn't have gas-powered weed-wackers then . For some reason, Duane's mother always called me "Dave". Bank used to get upset with me when I showed up to deposit checks . . . but, the other name on it seemed to make a difference .

Steve

 

[thistlebloom]

Ha! That's funny Duane!...er... Steve! Small small world here, I have lots of customers in the Fort Grounds by City Park, I wonder if I work in a yard you used to? I also work next door to one of the former Mrs. Hagadones on Hayden Lake.... she's a very....curious sort, always wondering if I'm up to no good .

So Mary and Steve, to try to be a little clearer, I do make circular cages from the wire, measuring it high enough to support the plants floppiness, but not so high that it competes with the plants form (does that make sense?).
Then I measure the circumference I need, not always with a tape ( I'm a very casual craftsman, horrifies my DH, but this ain't brain surgery! )
I secure the wire to itself with the pieces that are poking out when you cut the rectangles of wire.... that doesn't sound right, but hopefully you can picture that...
.
You don't want it too big around, sort of within a few inches of the stems, depending on what your supporting.
And it's important to do this early enough in the season that the plant sort of grows into it, and with peonies anyway, they'll send some leafy branches right thru the wire obscuring it even more.

I have done some support cages after the fact (that's because I just hit on this method this season, so some things were a little further along than optimal ) and they work fine and are pretty invisible anyway.

Oh yeah, another thing that helps a bunch is cutting off the last straight piece wire on what will be the bottom of your cage so that you are left with spikes to push into the ground.
I'm not good at verbal descriptions, and since you can't see my hands flying around I'm having trouble communicating the idea... a picture will be coming sometime I promise, but my camera is dead and I'm leaving in a day or so to visit my folks, but I'll try to post something sometime here.

eta - Yes Steve the wire is 4' tall and has 2" x 4" openings and has a black vinyl coating.
I think I've made around 20ish cages so far of various sizes. I think the wire was about $65.