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Quick Fix for Floppy Perennials

By: Garden Gate staff
Floppy plants looking bad? Try this quick fix for falling-down perennials.

ht-stake-sedum-1: Does your tall sedum look like this photo in fall?

Staking floppy perennials

It’s disappointing when perennials flop open, falling over under the weight of flower heads or after heavy rain. But staking can get expensive, especially if you want ones that won’t stand out in the garden.

Smart solution

June Hayes of North Carolina found a discreet and inexpensive alternative to stakes: bungee cords. She had two large clumps of yarrow (Achillea hybrid) that split open from the center following a storm. Though twine didn’t work to gather the branches up again, two bungee cords — one wrapped around the middle of each plant — kept the yarrow upright.

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ht-stake-sedum-2: To fix floppy perennials, gather the stems and hold them upright with a bungee cord wrap. For large clumps, interlock the ends of two cords together to hold all the stems.

Bungee cords to the rescue

The same thing can happen to tall sedum (Sedum spp. and hybrids). As the season goes on, plants splay open and flowers lay flat on the ground, like you see in the before photo. For large clumps, interlock the ends of two bungee cords together like you see above to hold all the stems.

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Published: Feb. 28, 2018
Updated: Nov. 28, 2023
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