Plant Supports

A small ribbed planter you can see into.

It comes apart into two pieces: an inner cup that holds the plant and potting mix, and a clear outer section that catches whatever drains through. No separate saucer to knock off a shelf, and no guessing what is going on under the pot.

4.13 in across and 4.72 in tall (10.5 x 12 cm), in blue, green or gray. Treat it as a planter with a visible reservoir and keep watering it yourself.

A pot that waters itself from below.

Water sits in the clear reservoir underneath, and a cotton rope draws it up into the potting mix as the plant uses it. You fill through a port on the side, glance at the reservoir to see where the level is, and top it up when it runs low.

Four sizes from 3 in to 9.3 in across (8.2 to 23.5 cm), in white or gray, each with one cotton wicking rope. It suits the plants that suffer most from an irregular schedule — pothos, peace lilies, herbs on a kitchen counter.

A small two-tier bamboo shelf, about 10.4 in wide, for the awkward gap where one plant sits and a second one has nowhere to go. It suits a windowsill, a desk corner or a dressing table, and works just as well holding jars, tins or a propagation glass.

It arrives flat and takes a few minutes to put together. The bamboo is left plain, so it warms up next to a plain terracotta or ceramic pot rather than competing with it.

A raised bed on legs that snaps together without tools.

It puts the soil at a height you can reach without kneeling, and lets you grow a bed's worth of food on a patio, deck or courtyard where nothing was growing before. Flat panels clip into the frame, so it comes upstairs in a way a timber bed doesn't.

47.24 x 15.75 x 14.56 in (120 x 40 x 37 cm), with around 6.3 in (16 cm) of soil depth and drainage holes in the base. Several units can be joined into longer runs and corners.

Non-woven fabric pots that drain from every surface.

Water leaves through the whole bag rather than a few holes in the base, and air reaches the sides of the root ball instead of only the top. That's why growers use these for tomatoes, potatoes and anything staying in one container for a full season.

Seven sizes from 1 gallon (7.1 x 5.9 in) to 12 gallon (15.7 x 13.8 in), in black, green or grey, sold singly or in packs of 3 or 5. Two handles per bag, and they fold flat once the season is over.

A wire hoop shaped like a monstera leaf.

Push it into the pot and rest the leaning stems inside the outline. It does the job of a cane and a piece of string, but reads as decoration rather than as a repair.

7.5 x 6.7 in (19 x 17 cm) in coated iron, available in gold, green or black, singly or in packs of 2 or 4. It holds stems that are already close to upright — for a plant you want climbing, a coir pole works better.

A small stake with a bit of character.

Push it into the pot beside a stem that needs something to lean on, and rest the stem in the clip. Right-sized for a young plant or a single vine, where a full-length cane would be overkill.

Moulded PP plastic, about 4.92 in (12.5 cm) long, in packs of 1, 2 or 5. Part of that length goes into the compost, so it stands a little lower than the figure suggests.

A natural coir pole that gives climbing plants somewhere to go.

Pothos, philodendron and monstera all climb in the wild. Indoors they usually trail instead, because there is nothing to grip. A coir pole gives those stems a rough, upright surface to hold on to, and keeps a sprawling plant inside a pot-sized footprint.

Pick a bendable pole in 23.6, 27.6 or 31.5 in (60, 70 or 80 cm) if you want to shape the path your plant takes. If you would rather start short, the 11.8 in (30 cm) rigid rod is the one the supplier shows being joined end to end as the plant grows.

A solid bamboo stand that lifts a pot off the floor or the windowsill, so air can move underneath and damp stops marking the surface below.

Three sizes: small is about 4.8 in wide and 3.5 in tall, medium 5.6 x 4.3 in, large 7.6 x 6.3 in. Measure across the base of your pot rather than the rim and pick the frame that is a little wider. Floor pads are included and assembly is a few screws.

Indoor use — the bamboo is uncoated. No saucer or drip tray is supplied, so stand the pot on one of your own and empty it after watering. 

A stand for one pot. Scrolled iron legs, about 9 in tall, in white, black or brown, made to lift a single plant off the floor so it reads as something you chose to display rather than something you put down.

The open frame means you see the pot, not the stand. It works in a corner, beside a chair, or grouped with a second one at a different height.

Indoors or on a covered balcony. 

Hook-and-loop tape that grips itself instead of knotting.

Wide and soft, so pressure is spread across the stem rather than biting into it the way string and wire do. Cut it to length with scissors, and undo and refit it looser in seconds as the plant thickens.

Three rolls, each 6.6 ft long and about 0.4 in wide (2 m x 1 cm), in a choice of seven colors.

A honeycomb panel that pushes straight into the pot.

The open pattern gives twining stems somewhere to wind through at every height, and the panels join vertically so you can add height as the plant climbs rather than committing to a full trellis on day one.

Panel 6.5 x 12.6 in (16.5 x 32 cm) with 3.1 in legs, in dark green plastic. Sold as 2 or 4 panels, no assembly. For monstera and other aerial-root climbers, a coir pole grips better than smooth plastic.

Two curved stands that stack a plant collection upward.

Five staggered tiers on each, so a corner that held three pots holds a dozen. The half-moon shape tucks against a corner or a rounded wall without wasting the space behind it, and there are three hooks along the top rail for trailing plants.

Each stand measures 23.6 x 15.7 x 56 in, with a steel pipe frame and MDF board shelves. Sold as a set of two; assembly required. We'd keep it indoors or fully sheltered — MDF doesn't cope well with repeated wetting.

Small hoops that catch stems before they flop.

Push the legs into the pot and set the hoop at about half the plant's height. Used two or three at a time around the same plant, they form a loose ring of support with nothing to tie.

Eight supports per pack, each 5.3 in wide and 9.8 in high (13.5 x 25 cm). Best put in early, while the plant is still upright.

Guide a climber across a wall without drilling.

Stick a clip where you want the plant to go next, tuck the stem into the hook, and it grows along the line you set rather than flopping forward. White clips in three sizes, in packs of 10, 30 or 50.

Treat these as guides for light stems, and try one on your surface before committing to a whole route.