Features
Supports
Manage your garden supports — trellises, cages, stakes, and other structures — and track which plants are using them.
Supports are the physical structures that help your plants grow — trellises, tomato cages, stakes, arches, and anything else you use to keep plants upright or trained.
Why track supports?
Tracking supports helps you:
- Know what's available — See which cages and stakes are free vs. in use
- Plan placement — "The red cage is on Cherokee Purple in the back bed"
- Remember what worked — "Last year I used a trellis for cucumbers and they did great"
- Visual identification — Color-coded supports help you spot plants in the garden
Types of supports
| Type | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Trellis | Vertical or A-frame structures | Wooden trellis against a fence |
| Cage | Wire enclosures | Standard tomato cage |
| Stake | Single poles | Bamboo or metal stakes |
| Arch | Overhead structures | Garden arch for beans |
| Fence | Boundary structures used for growing | Chain-link with vining plants |
Fixed vs. portable
Supports come in two categories:
- Fixed — Permanently attached to a zone (built-in trellis, permanent fence). These stay with the zone across seasons.
- Portable — Movable inventory (cages, stakes). These are assigned to specific plantings and can be reassigned each season.
Managing supports
Adding a support
- Go to a planting or zone
- Click the support assignment option
- Choose an existing support or create a new one
- Set the type, display name, and color
Color coding
Each support can have a color — this serves as a visual identifier. When you're out in the garden, "the red cage" is a faster reference than "the cage on Cherokee Purple in zone 3."
Availability tracking
The app tracks which supports are currently in use and which are available. During season planning, you can see your inventory and assign supports to new plantings.
Supports in the planning workflow
During Act 2 (Plan) of the planning workflow:
- See which supports are available
- Assign supports to planned plantings
- Add new supports on the fly
- Review last year's support assignments
Related
- Zones and layout — Fixed supports live on zones
- Planting and logging — Logging support-related observations
- Planning your season — Assigning supports during planning