easy DIY Peony Supports

If you’re one of the many people who love peonies, then you know just how beautiful they can be! These flowers are easy to grow and tough in many garden zones.

Supporting peonies is important to keep them looking their best. In this post, I will teach you how to support your peonies so that you can enjoy their beauty for years to come!

Creating homemade peony flower supports is budget friendly and very easy.

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There are many decorative types of peony supports you can buy.

Some are pricier than others. Gardeners Supply has some that are just beautiful but way out of my budget.

What I love about these more decorative ones is even when the peonies are dormant the supports look beautiful in the garden beds.

If you have just a couple of peony bushes to support these may work very well for you.

But alas, I am on a tight budget and I have way too many peonies.

I know many of my garden friends are budget conscious as well. So let’s build our own Peony Support Rings for pennies on the dollar.

Homemade Metal Peony Supports

Supplies:

42 inch tomato cage (this is the one I have in the video)
bolt cutters
wire cutters
16 gauge galvanized wire
gloves

galvanized wire, wire cutters and bolt cutters lying by tomato cage

I started with a 42-inch tall tomato cage from Wal-Mart, it cost me about $4 in 2020.

It was a heavier gauge wire than other tomato cages but the others could work as well. After some testing, I will let you know how they work.

I do understand that many things have increased in cost so things may be a tad higher now.

tomato cage in front of a wine barrel filled with plants

I have often used these tomato cages upside down as obelisks in the garden to support things like sweet peas.

You can often see them in my Secret Garden tour videos. I just would place a 4-inch terra-cotta pot over the legs at the top for decorative purposes.

We will use these cages right side up for our Peony Supports but we need to trim them down in size.

Modifying Peony Support Cages

Place the tomato cage upside down on a flat surface. Using the bolt cutters cut just below the bottom ring. (though it looks to be the top ring, remember this is upside down for working on)

finger pointing to spot on peony support cage to be cut

Keep the portion you cut off, this can still be used to support things in your garden, even smaller peony bushes. (if planting from peonies bare-root it can take a few years for them to fill in)

Supporting Peonies when Flowering

If we were just supporting the peony bush then the ring would be sufficient but supporting the big blousy flowers takes a little more added to the top ring of the cage.

This is where the 16 gauge galvanized wire comes in handy.

Create Grid to Support Peony Flowers

The video shows you 2 ways to create a mesh on the top ring to support the peony flowers.

photo of peonies and woman with tomato cage with text overlay, easy DIY Peony Supports, Flower Patch Farmhouse dot com

Attach the wire to the top tomato cage ring(now peony cage) by wrapping it around a few times.

Pull it tautly to the opposite side, wrap it around the top ring a couple of times then pull it at an angle towards the other side again.

Alternately you can cut the wire each time you cross the top ring for a straighter grid pattern.

But I found pulling the wire over the top of the ring in a 5-point star pattern was faster and easier. (please see video).

Be sure to keep the wire ends towards the inside of the ring when finishing up the wrapping. This will help prevent snagging on them once placed in the garden.

Place Peony Plant Supports

Now that you have the peony cages ready you can place them around your peonies.

The best time to provide support for your peony bushes is before they need it, meaning early Spring.

As the peony emerges from the soil you can see where to place the support rings.

supporting peonies, homemade peony ring made from tomato cage placed over young peony bush

As the peony grows taller make sure the buds are threaded through the grid to support the flowers individually.

The best peony support rings have a grid for a reason. If this did not have the grid they would just lean all around the peony ring instead of holding up their blooms.

This is particularly important when you get Spring rains which weigh down the Peony flowers.

The beauty of these homemade peony supports is you can leave them year-round in your garden beds.

Planting potted peonies is a great way to get a bit of a head start on growing these beautiful plants.

As the season progresses I will share how these look even after the peonies have finished for the season.