Hazel Pea-Sticks and Twiggy Supports: The Traditional Way to Stake Peas and Sweet Peas

A pea doesn't grow up a support so much as grope for one. Each leaf carries tendrils, thread-like extensions that search for something to touch, and when one brushes something thin enough to wrap around it curls into a spiral and pulls the stem in behind it. That's why a single smooth cane is a poor match for a pea plant, and why a twiggy branch stuck in the ground works so much better: it offers dozens of thin contact points at every height the plant reaches, rather than one.

What a pea-stick is

A pea-stick is a branch with plenty of twiggy side-shoots left on it, cut to a manageable length and pushed into the ground between peas (or other tendril climbers) so the plant has something to grip as it grows. It isn't a manufactured product but a piece of prunings, traditionally hazel, chosen and trimmed for the job.

Hazel and birch are the traditional choices, but twigginess matters more than species. Willow and dogwood prunings work as well, so pick whichever twiggy material you have to hand. A good pea-stick has:

• A reasonably straight main stem so it stands upright when pushed into the ground
• Dense, fine side-branching along most of its length, not just at the tip
• Enough rigidity to stay put in wind and rain, but thin enough for a tendril to close around

Sourcing pea-sticks: a use for what you'd otherwise burn or bin

• Hedge and shrub prunings. Twiggy trimmings from hazel, birch, willow, dogwood or viburnum that would go on the bonfire or in the green bin can be sorted for straight, well-branched pieces.
• Coppiced hazel. Coppicing, cutting a tree back hard to a low stool so it regrows a flush of straight new stems, is the classic source, and hazel is becoming increasingly popular for pea sticks and bean poles. When you trim hazel tops, save the twiggy offcuts for supporting peas.
• Gathered or grown material. Growing or gathering your own hazel, dogwood or birch stems avoids buying plastic supports.

If you don't have your own hedge or coppice, a neighbour clearing a hazel hedge, an allotment site's communal prunings pile or a local woodland working party are realistic sources. The material is functionally waste until someone uses it.

A note on Scotland's hazel

Hazel is native and common across much of Scotland, in hedgerows and woodland understorey, though not in Shetland. One caution if you're cutting from the wild rather than a garden hedge: the west of Scotland has ancient Atlantic hazel woods that host some of the rarest lichens, liverworts and mosses, and coppicing could damage them, so specialist advice is recommended before managing them. Stick to garden hedges, managed plantings or coppice grown for cutting.

If you're cutting anywhere other than your own garden (a hedge you don't own, a wood or common land), get the landowner's permission first. Keep hard cutting of hedges and hazel to the dormant season, roughly November to February, because hedges and hazel in leaf between March and August are likely to be sheltering nesting birds, and disturbing an active nest is an offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

How to set up pea-sticks

Timing. Push supports in before, or right at, sowing or transplanting time, to avoid disturbing roots later. The main outdoor sowing runs March to June once the soil is warm enough, and Scotland's season generally starts later, so sow and stake by your own local last-frost date (see Scotland's frost dates).

Height. Match the stick height to the plant's mature height, not the seedling in front of you, since a stick much shorter than the plant leaves the top growth unsupported and flopping.

Arrangement. Push sticks in along the row, between the plants, close enough that their twiggy tops overlap and interlock rather than standing as isolated poles. Angle the butt ends in slightly from both sides of a double row so the tops cross and lean into each other. This braces the row against wind better than sticks standing vertical, and is worth doing in an exposed or coastal Scottish garden, where a wind-loaded row of twiggy sticks is more likely to go over than the same row in shelter.

Depth and firmness. Push each stick firmly into the soil, deep enough that it doesn't rock. A stick that leans or falls mid-season takes the developing plant with it, and a pea already committed to one support won't happily transfer to a replacement.

Slug, pigeon and deer protection. Young pea seedlings are vulnerable at exactly the point sticks go in, and twigs don't protect against slugs, pigeons or deer. Combine them with the usual seedling defences (grit, copper tape, clochesA small, portable clear cover placed over an individual plant or short row to trap warmth and keep off wind, rain and pests. Full definition →, or netting draped over the row) until plants are established. On a rural plot, deer and rabbits will strip a young pea row as readily as slugs, so a low temporary fence or mesh sleeve around the row is worth it.

Ongoing care. Twiggy supports need little tending once in. Unlike netting there's no need to tie plants in, since the tendrils do it themselves. Trim back any twigs growing awkwardly across the row if they start shading neighbouring plants. Damp wood softens faster than wood that dries out between wettings, so expect sticks on a consistently wet plot to give out sooner.

Which plants benefit, and which don't

• Peas (garden peas, mangetout, sugar snaps): the classic use, and the reason for the name. For smaller varieties, use pea sticks (twiggy prunings) inserted between the plants.
• Sweet peas: border plants can be trained over obelisks or twiggy supports. Exhibition sweet peas are different: they are grown as a single stem (cordonA fruit tree or bush trained as a single main stem with short fruiting side-spurs, usually grown at an angle against a wall, fence or wire. Full definition →) tied to a cane.
• Other light scrambling plants can use the same principle, though pea-sticks are sized for lighter climbers rather than heavy woody ones.

The same twiggy technique suits border perennials that need light support to lean into, such as delphiniums, campanulas and floppy peonies or dahlias. See staking tall perennials for the fuller run of methods.

Pea-sticks are the wrong tool for twining climbers, which wind their whole stem around a support rather than gripping with tendrils. Runner beans are the clearest example: Phaseolus coccineus is a green-leaved twining climber, and the traditional supports are tall, sturdy uprights, a wigwam or double row of 2.5m canes or hazel poles spaced 15-30cm apart. A twining stem needs a continuous pole to spiral around from base to tip, and a branching pea-stick works against it because the stem keeps meeting forks and side-shoots. Use hazel poles as straight uprights in a frame, not as bushy pea-sticks.

Pea-sticks vs netting: a fair comparison

For taller pea varieties the usual recommendation is netting or chicken wire attached to posts or bamboo canes, and tall varieties need supports that are suitably tall and sturdy, especially in windy locations. Wire mesh, netting and sticks are interchangeable options for peas, with different trade-offs.

Hazel supports wildlife as a living tree. It feeds woodpeckers, nuthatches, other birds and small mammals and hazel dormice, and its flowers provide early pollen for bees. A cut offcut stuck in the ground as a pea support isn't the same thing as the living tree.

Common questions

Sources