Creative Garden Stakes

When I needed to plant tomatoes a few months back, I realised that I don't have any stakes. I also don't have a spade, fork, hose or most other garden implements. In fact, I personally own a bucket, rubber gloves, and a hand trowel. Plus some seed raising mix, seeds, and punnets. But that's about it. One of the costs of moving - my spade and fork got sold in a garage sale before we left Townsville, along with our garden hoses. However, in saying that, I must admit that I do now own a garden hose. This is thanks to my wonderful in-laws, who had a spare. It even came on one of those fancy reels with a handle so for once in my life I have a TIDY garden hose. Anyone ever have the 'garden hose won't jolly well stay in a nice neat roll or pile or anything' issue? Yeah, that's usually what my hose is like. But not any more, now it is neatly wound up on its reel each time and I feel rather satisfied with the spic and span-ness of it all. But I digress. I didn't have garden stakes, among other things. I didn't want to go out and buy some, just for tomatoes. My parents have stakes, but they all get used every year for their tomatoes (some of which I do hope to eat too - the ones in my garden are a kind of back up/over flow just in case things go wrong somewhere along the line). So I got a bit creative. I'd borrowed the long handled loppers from Dad anyway, and was pruning camellia trees, so I figured, why not make use of some of those branches?! Here's the result.

Not your tidiest looking stakes. And some of the tomatoes against the house (not seen here) are in need of taller stakes, but all things considered I am rather happy with my tomato stakes. They didn't cost me anything. They were going to be rubbish anyway. All I had to do was strip the branches and leaves off, and pop them in the garden. My tomatoes don't seem to mind that they are not kept exactly vertical. In fact, they don't seem phased at all. They are merrily producing fruit with no regard to their staking whatsoever. Whenever I head out to the garden, I am greeted by this crazy leaning jumble of stakes and tomato plants, and find myself thinking that recyling is a very creative, cool thing to do...no one else is going to have a garden that looks quite like mine, are they?!?

Amy

Wednesday, 15th December, 2010