How to Plant Bug Stakes

Bug stakes add spice to the usual variety of lawn ornaments.

Garden supply stores and online retailers offer all sorts of bug stakes, decorative garden tchotchkes that depict colorful cartoonish bugs on the ends of pointed metal stakes. Planting bug stakes in your garden is simple as sticking them in the ground, but you'll get the most out of your bug stakes by putting a little extra care into the process. There's no one "right" way to plant these fun lawn ornaments, so take as much creative license as you'd like.

Instructions

1. Select a suitable site for your bug stakes. Ensure maximum visibility for your colorful bugs, but avoid planting them too close to the roots of your plants, especially young or newly-planted plants; you don't want to pierce any root systems. Tightly-compacted soils such as clay are your best bet for securing stakes, as light loamy or sandy soils may cause the stakes to tilt or fall over time.

2. Hold one stake at a time firmly by the decorative "bug" end. Insert the sharp pole of the stake into the ground, putting downward pressure on the bug. Leave a few inches of stake above ground. Rotate the bug so it faces outward.

3. Plant additional stakes in the same way. You can use bug stakes to make borders by arranging them symmetrically, or you can disperse them randomly around the garden. For a little creative utility, try using your bug stakes as vegetable garden tags; place a piece of masking tape on the bug and write the name of newly-planted seeds on the tape to mark your veggies.

4. Try coordinating your bug stakes to the colors of your garden. For instance, use ladybug stakes near red roses, yellow bees around daffodils or green grasshopper stakes near ferns. Alternatively, you can contrast colors --- such as purple dragonflies against green plants or blue beetles against orange flowers --- to make the bugs really pop. Plant metal bug stakes near garden lights to act as high-visibility reflectors.

Tips & Warnings

• Bug stakes make great gifts for beginning gardeners.

• Add some variety to the garden with different decorative stakes, such as mushroom stakes, flower stakes or butterfly stakes.

• Monitor children around the sharp ends of bug stakes.

References

• Veldsma And Sons Inc. 2010 Spring Catalog
• Garden Fun: Cute Love Bug Stakes