A phrase that should send the Uncommitted Gardener fleeing. Translation: Plant will be tattered and battered by winds; plant will keel over and smother & kill neighbouring plants. Translation: right load of hassle. Avoid.

Or course if you are happy to spend your precious pennies on decorative hoops and obelisks that are three times the cost of the plant they are holding up, or the thought of constructing an intricate supporting web of sticks, canes and twine fills you with delight, then fill your boots.

Bear in mind that plant breeders know what the modern gardener wants, and that is not A Right Load of Hassle.

Get some height the easy way with new, shorter varieties of sturdy shrubs such as Buddleias, Philadelphus (aka mock orange) and Lavateras (mallows). And if you still desire some of those cottage garden classics, you can also now get shorter versions of the likes of Delphiniums and Dahlias, stumpy enough to hold themselves up without assistance.