Anyone have any good suggestions for long lasting stakes ? I have been using the cheap bamboo available at garden stores but most of them only last a season and they break off at soil level. Those plastic coated metal ones are really nice but they get really expensive when you need 200 +. Would love some suggestions and sources if possible.
How long do you need the stakes to be? How heavy. Two ideas- for light stakes, welding rods work well and are pretty cheap. Heavier, taller stakes can be made from pipe- especially copper pipe which gets a pretty green patina. Haunt used building material recyclers for cheap pieces- you'll probably see other items that could be pressed into service. And, if you have room, plant your own bamboo for a never ending supply of staking material.
I've used the copper pipe too, & it works well. If you drill holes through the pipe, you can then run plastic coated electrical wire (green ground wire works well) through the holes for a non-slip & long-lasting tie. Pieces of cut rebar (used for concrete reinforcement) provide an even cheaper alternative.
Twenty foot lengths of white plastic pipe are cheap and easily cut. I use 1/2" sch. 40. They last several years but do eventually get brittle.
Some great suggestions here but take into consideration the possibility of loss from 'scavenging'. Unfortunately, stories of people helping themselves to anything metal, even if nailed or screwed down, is all too common these days. Loss of the stake is one thing but damage to the plant attached to it is another. Perhaps limiting the use of metal stakes to less public areas would be prudent.
Thank you for all your suggestions. I'm hoping to get 6' stakes, 1' in the ground. They don't need to be as sturdy as rebar and they're more for marking my bulbs than for holding anything up. I have no idea what welding rods are but I did a search and I gather that they come in quite short lengths only about 15" ? I think this would be too short and if 6" in the ground, would be just the right length to do myself some serious eye poking injury. Are they available in longer lengths ? The bamboo I'm using now is not working - they just break off at soil level and all the name tags attached to the bamboo get loose and identification becomes an annoyance besides I'm afraid would take too long before I got a good crop of stakes - in any case, if I did grow bamboo in the ground I think I'd grow the ones with edible shoots and that would take care of running problems. I'm not too keen on the plastic only because of it's limited life span. So that brings us down to copper pipes and green patina. However your point on 'scavengers' is well noted Junglekeeper so I plan to use them at the back only.
If you are using the stakes to mark/label your bulb plantings, the welding rod might still work (I have seen them longer than 15")- they are metal rods that are soft enough to bend- you can put a spiral curl in the top of them and then hang a metal label on it to identify the bulb. The curl also reduces the danger of poking yourself. If identification is your goal, we used the impressible aluminum and copper tags to write the plant name on, then used an earth staple (6" wire staple intended for pinning landscape cloth/erosion mat) to pin it near the plant.
I'm curious - why the preference for such a tall marker as opposed to the more traditional ones that are under a foot in height?
Oops - just reread my previous post, I meant to say lily bulbs. silvercreek - went to look for those rods today but went to the nursery first and then forgot about the rods but I do use those impress-o-tags and I love them. A friend told me that you can buy copper strips in rolls quite inexpensive as well. Junglekeeper My bulbs are all mixed in with every thing else and it's just easier to see a long stake than a short one. Specially important at slug hunting time just when they're breaking through because if the slugs eat enough of it there's no lillies for the year. Occasionally I do have to support the stems as well.
