How to Build Your Own Dahlia Supports

Dahlias are one of my favorite kinds of flowers. The tall dinner plate dahlias are beautiful but as they grow throughout the summer without proper support, the weight of the flower causes the stems to bend and break. To best support and display my dahlias my husband custom built dahlia supports for me using rebar. I like the way these blend in and don’t distract from the plants themselves. Once properly supported, dahlias are very easy to care for and you can enjoy a mass of flowers all summer long.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• 3/8” diameter rebar (#3 rebar)
• Bolt cutter
• Someone who can weld
• Mallet

1. Using bolt cutters, cut rebar into 3 pieces, He used 3 - 36” pieces for each support.

2. 
    

   Bend one piece of rebar into a semi-circle.

3. 
    

   To form the legs, weld a straight section of rebar to each end of the semi-circle piece. That’s all there is to it, your dahlia support is complete.

4. Install your support by pushing the legs into the ground in front of your dahlias. Use the mallet to drive the legs firmly into the ground.

5. Make sure your support is installed straight up and down and in position to hold the dahlias upright, you don’t want it leaning forward or backwards.

6. 
    

   As your dahlia grows, gently direct the stems behind the rebar support. Don’t let the stems grow much higher than the support before you train them behind it because if you have to bend them too much to get them behind the support they will probably break.

Tips & Warnings

• If you don’t know a welder, Prepare your parts and bring them to a local welding shop. It’s such a minor job, you might be able to sweet talk them into doing the welds for little or no charge.
• To help shape rebar you could bend it over a barrel or other sturdy round surface.
• Allow the rebar to weather naturally.
• Watch out for sharp edges when you cut the rebar.
• To protect your hands, wear heavy gloves while you are bending the rebar.

Resources

• eHow Home and Garden Topic Guide.