10 Plants For Height That Don’t Need Supporting

No matter the size of a border or container, there’s nothing more pleasing to the eye than a good balance of heights. It’s something that our brains unconsciously assess, instantly making something feel ‘right’…or not, as the case may be. Occasionally a mass of planting at one height can work - who doesn’t love a pot full of nothing but tulips in spring? - but generally a composition feels more complete with a combination of tall, medium, and shorter plants.

Shorter plants are often those hassle-free stalwarts that merrily get on with the job - Geranium, Alchemilla mollis and the like - as do those at the lower end of the medium height category such as Astrantia and Geum. However, once you get above a metre or so high, strength of stem becomes an important consideration. Plant breeding sometimes focuses on flower size above all else, creating numerous cultivars whose heads are often just too heavy for the stems (I’m looking at you Hydrangea ‘Annabelle’).

If a plant can’t support itself you’re left with two options: staking or embracing the wild(er) look. Both of these are a matter of personal taste. For me, the latter option is fine with certain plants in certain positions - I don’t mind the odd Verbena at the back of a border drunkenly leaning on its neighbour to stay vaguely upright, yet I can’t abide Achillea when it flails outwards over the path, leaving a hideously visible crown at it’s core.

We do gently some support plants in our garden, as there are some that we both adore despite their floppy ways. There are, however, several downsides to supporting plants. Attractive, discreet supports can be costly, and rely on the gardener getting them in place early enough in the season. Staking - usually with a bamboo cane and twine - can be added as it’s needed, but too many of these can detract from the overall scheme, with the pale verticals inevitably drawing the eye. One solution is to paint your canes green, which I saw in the King’s garden at Highgrove. If only I had the time (or staff).

My preferred solution is selecting plants that don’t need support at all. In this article I’ve listed my top 10 perennials that we grow here that fit the bill. I’ve included the important stats - height, spread, flowering months, and preferred light levels - as well as images of each. However, before giving you my top 10, there are several things that you can do in the borders that will make many plants more naturally self-supporting in the first place.