Easy Plant Support or Protection

I've always had a problem with critters eating my sunflowers (and other young flowers) after I plant the seedlings out into the garden. This year I'm protecting them with paper towel tubes or even wrapping paper tubes for taller seedlings and TP tubes for smaller ones.

You can cut the tube open long-wise to place it around the seedling's stem. But I just held the leaves together gently and slipped it down over the plant. Be sure to push it into the ground for stability. You don't want it to blow over in a wind and break your seedling. I mounded some soil up around it as well to keep it securely in place.

Once the plant is well established and not such a tasty target for garden varmints, you can remove the tube. After being rained on and watered, it will be easy to tear or cut with scissors. The photo shows a sunflower seedling protected among the purple coneflower plants.

By ~gloria from upstate NY