Plant hold-down bracket
View Patent ↗A convertible, plant securement device intended for nurseries and horticulturalists to secure potted and non-potted plants and trees from tipping over as well as securing their watering lines. The device may be used with a vertical ground stake such as a section of steel rebar wherein it has a horizontal hook that catches over the edge of a pot to secure it to the ground. Alternatively, it may be rotated 90 degrees and secured to a trellis wire and then strapped around the stock or trunk of a tree to keep it vertical and upright.
1. A plant hold-down device to secure a potted or bagged plant from tipping over, comprising;
a cylindrical body with a linear through-bore having a contiguous inner wall formed centered along a linear axis of said body, said body having a planar platform formed on a top face thereof;
an externally and internally threaded stud extending perpendicularly from said platform of said body;
a planar bracket plate having a concave linear depression formed there across,
a spacer block extending perpendicularly between said body and said bracket plate so as to hold said bracket plate at a spaced distance from said body; and
a trellis wire lock mounted onto said external thread of said stud.
2. The plant hold-down device of claim 1 further comprising:
at least two slots formed therethrough said bracket plate.
3. The plant hold-down device of claim 2 wherein said at least two slots are T shaped slots.
4. The plant hold-down device of claim 2 , further comprising:
an externally threaded vertical adjustment thumbscrew, rotatably engaged in said internal thread of said stud.
5. The plant hold-down device of claim 1 , wherein said trellis wire lock is an internally threaded wingnut that has a washer integrated on a bottom of said wingnut, said washer having a set of teeth formed on a bottom face thereof, where said bottom face of said washer is parallel to a top face of said platform.
6. The plant hold-down device of claim 5 , further comprising:
at least one plant securement tie, said plant securement tie having a central flexible sling having a first end and a second end, each said first end and said second end each having a cord affixed thereto; and
wherein said plant securement tie is connectable across said bracket plate by affixation of said cords in said T shaped slots.
7. The plant hold-down device of claim 6 , further comprising:
at least one spherical node formed at a point along a length of each of said cords wherein said cords are stretchable; and
wherein said at least one node has a diameter that exceeds a width of said at least two T shaped slots.
8. The plant hold-down device of claim 2 further comprising;
at least one V notch formed through said bracket plate to hold the potted plant's irrigation lines off of the ground.
9. The plant hold-down device of claim 1 wherein said linear depression has a linear axis that resides perpendicular to said linear axis of said body.
10. The plant hold-down device of claim 1 wherein said planar platform on said body has a series of linear grooves formed thereon.