I used hoola hoops from a garage sale for my hoops,and stabilized for the rain weight by stapling 8 foot bamboo across the top. Hope this helps, Joelle

I make mine with 8 foot lengths of 1/4 inch rebar. It's cheap and bends relatively easily and can also take a fair bit of weight and wind

For what it's worth. This year I tried 1" poly water line. The stuff thats black and has a really think wall. I cut it in 8 ft lenghts then I pounded rebar in the ground on each side and left about 8" above the ground and slipped the poly line right over the rebar. We had alot of rain this spring and it never budged. Stout.