Making Tomato Cages From Saplings

I already posted these photos in another thread, but I promised to expand on the idea here.

Every spring, we have a profusion of new saplings in the wooded border of our half-acre lot, including invasive privet and thorny olive, elm, mulberry and especially redbuds. I like the redbuds because they are among the first plants to bloom and help the dandelions feed hungry bees. What I do not like is having to deal with redbud seedpods for the rest of the year. So, after the flowers are spent and the tomato seedlings are beginning to sprout in their starter pots, I'm out trimming branches, cutting saplings, and weaving them into tomato cages. ('Weaving' is a very generous term for bending a bunch of branching sticks into cone-ish shapes.)

Redbud branches also offer an extra benefit. You can peel the bark off of them and use it immediately for tying the cages together, without having to bother with twisting it into cordage.

The process is simple and straightforward: Cut the branches, strip the bark, stick the saplings in the ground in a circle and twist/tie the branches together. Fresh redbud bark is easy to peel, and easy to separate into thin strips, which have the feel of soft leather and hold a tight knot without breaking. Removing the bark has another advantage. If you leave it in place, the saplings will set new roots through the bark wherever you plant them, and sprout leaves that will compete with your tomatoes.

These cages are amazingly sturdy and withstand wind surprisingly well, especially in rows. They also scale up for indeterminate plants, depending on how tall your tomatoes and your saplings are. My first efforts to twist wreaths from vines and twigs turned into eight-foot Tomato Tornadoes, which still weren't tall enough for our vines that year.

This is brilliant, using the invasive saplings you'd be clearing anyway as the support material. I do something similar with hazel rods from coppicing, bend them into arches over raised beds for climbing beans and tomatoes. The natural forks are actually better than anything you can buy because plants grip onto the rough bark instead of sliding down smooth metal. How long do the redbud ones last you before they start rotting out?

Yeardly Arthur wrote:

Push the cut saplings into the ground in a circle, each stick angling up and out.

I have done similar, but was using bamboo as the verticals and trailing blackberry vines woven horizontally to tie it all together.

However, I did them as cones wider at the bottom, rather than angling them out from the base. I had a couple of large commercial tomato cages which are larger in diameter at the bottom than the top. They were the only commercial ones that didn't tip over in our wind, so I copied the design more or less.  

Joao Winckler wrote: How long do the redbud ones last you before they start rotting out?

They generally last the whole season. I had a few rot at the base last year, and fall over after a late summer storm. All I had to do was stand them back up, and drive a couple of new sticks down next to them. The same solution solved a happy problem of overgrowth. Some of my tomato vines outgrew their cages and started to fall down over the top. I just cut taller saplings and added them to the structure.

Honestly…Ive gotten tired of managing my tomato plants so this year I planted them next to a sturdy cattle panel. I’m just supporting the branches by propping them up through the openings and then letting them fall where they’re gonna fall. So far all are doing just fine w minimal fuss!