I've used monofilament fishing line to hold plants, but I had rocks at a higher elevation so that worked fine tying the line to a rock. Not knowing the pond layout, it' hard top say, but a plastic plant stake installled into/onto a weight may be possible- takle a piece of PV or ABS pipe 2" pipe with a cap on the end, fill with pea gravel may work. I've taken a ABS reducer (3") and glued it to a 3" slotted drain cover and filled it with pea gravel to support plants - just a thought to start you thinking

Thanks for the post. I have used fishing line as well. Our biggest problem is what to anchor the line to. I don't have any higher level rocks that I could use. We'll see if we can incorporate some of your ideas into our setup.

Hi Ilene,

I've been working with Joe Pye Weed in a way that keeps it from flopping. In the Spring when it gets to about 2 feet tall, I prune it down to about 1 foot tall. I simply prune each stalk right above a set of leaves. Each stalk will then produce 5 new stalks at the leaf axils right below where you pruned it. In the end, this pruduces a shorter (say about 4-5 foot as opposed to 6-7 foot) but much more sturdy Joe Pye Weed. Plus you get more flowers. They're a little bit smaller and bloom a little bit later, but not by much.

One thing to note, when you prune the stalks don't be alarmed that they appear to be hollow. No worries. That's just the way they grow.

Best of luck!