Question
I have shasta daisies that are over 4 ft tall. They are tall and leggy and keep falling over.They look terrible. Should I have trimmed them early in spring, to prevent them from growing too tall. I hate to stake them, there are so many of them. Or should I plant smaller plants in front of them to support them.
Thanks

Answer
Hello Diane

Thank you for your question.

If your shasta daisies (Leucanthemum) have grown to 4 feet they must be very happy indeed!  Usually they don't exceed 3 feet.  The bad news is that you will have to support them.  This doesn't mean you need to use stakes, there are other methods of supporting tall plants - here's my favorite method:

Use plastic coated wire mesh - cut a length of mesh and tie canes (about 3 feet long) to each corner of the mesh (if the mesh is particularly long fix canes along its length at the outer edges).  Push the canes into the soil so that the mesh is about 2 feet above the ground.  Do this before the daisies start to grow in the spring and they will grow through the mesh and quickly conceal it from view!

Trimming the plants in spring may not actually stop them from growing tall, but it may help them to thicken up and become sturdier and is to be recommended.

Putting shorter plants in front of the daisies to support them really isn't a good idea - they'll just get squashed!