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Obelisk

HoneywortHoneywort Posts: 31
in Garden design

Hi. Not sure if I've posted in the right place. I have just bought a metal obelisk - 7ft tall. My husband pushed it about 10 inches into the soil (as per instructions) but I'm not sure if it will stand up to the antics of the foxes and their cubs at that end of the garden. 

I'm thinking about digging a hole 10" deep and putting some concrete (or that stuff you use for fence posts), setting the legs into the concrete and filling the hole back in with soil. The obelisk is 14" wide, how wide a hole would I need to make?

Has anyone done this - or is it a bad idea to have a slab of concrete in my flower bed. Any advice will be much appreciated.

Posts

  • LynLyn Posts: 23,090

    I have had a few of these, they don't last more than 2 years so we don't cement them in. We bang long stakes into the ground at least 2ft, then tie the frame to them with electrical tie wraps. By the winter they will rust on the joints where the bolts go in, then get weak and a strong gust will break them from those joints. As they are quite cheap, I just replace them every two years.

    I gave up with the arches, OH has made a wooden one, well staked in the ground..

    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • hogweedhogweed Posts: 4,053

    I have had one in my garden for years and still ok. I think it is a Gardman one. Long stakes on 2 of the feet will help. Mine is just stuck in and surviving. I would not go down the concrete route.

    'Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement' - Helen Keller
  • artjakartjak Posts: 4,167

    I have 2 shorter obelisk type shapes, they are in large pots, supporting clematis and have been there for about 3 years I think. Had to bend the legs in a bit with pliers to fit pots. I would think that whatever plant you have growing up it will anchor it pretty wellimage

  • LynLyn Posts: 23,090

    Mine are Gardman, but I live in a very wet windy part of the West Country, they rust out for a past time. At the moment the honeysuckle is holding the structure together!

    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • HoneywortHoneywort Posts: 31

    Thanks everyone. I was hoping to get a bit longer than 2 years out of mine - its quite a sturdy heavy one. My main concern is that by the time the foxes have finished trashing that end of the garden it will end up resembling the Leaning Tower of Pisa and that the climbing plants will get damaged. I don't fancy going down the concrete route either hogweed, maybe I will take cuttings of my climbers as a precaution.

    Thanks again.

  • LynLyn Posts: 23,090

    Bang 4ft stakes in the ground down 2ft then tie them on the 3 legs, if you are in a dryer area you may get 4 years out of it, it should stand up ok.

    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • HoneywortHoneywort Posts: 31

    Thanks Lyn, sounds like a good idea. I'll have a go. I'm in London, sadly rather wet at the moment - it's torrential.

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