You are here: Home / Archives for Arbors/Pergolas

The Top Seven Landscape Ideas for Backyards

August 1, 2011 By Peter Leave a Comment

Most of us consider our patios and gardens to be an extension of our home; a place to relax, entertain, and generally have fun with friends and family. For this reason most of us are constantly on the lookout for landscape ideas for backyards and even for our front yards.

Even if you have no experience in the field of landscape designing, there are many ways that you can improve your backyard. Some ideas involve construction work, while others necessitate planting. At the other end of the scale there are some ideas that can be instantly applied.

While some of the ideas that follow will take more time, effort and financial input than others, all are guaranteed to make your outdoor spaces more beautiful and enjoyable than they might already be. Just remember that swimming pools and solid structures like gazebos, pergolas and decks are the costliest part of any backyard; so plan carefully before you make any sort of investment in terms of time or money.

Top Seven Ideas For Landscaping Your Backyard

  1. Decks not only look great, they also enable you to extend your home outdoors. They are also the ideal solution on a sloping property that is difficult to plant and impossible to use. If you want to design your own deck you should look at deck design software.
  2. Fountains add the magical sound of water and can be incorporated in even the smallest backyard. The choice is immense so be sure to choose a design that melds with the style of your home and garden.
  3. Barbecues also come in numerous guises, both freestanding and built with bricks or stone and mortar. If you don’t have bricklaying skills but want a permanent built-in barbecue, consider a ground-level fire pit in the form of a shallow saucer dug into the soil. Line the edge with a single course of pavers and make your fire in the centre. Use loose bricks on either side of the fire to hold a grill or grate. If you can lay bricks consider a full-on outdoor kitchen. Al fresco meals will never be the same again.
  4. An arbor will add structure to your garden plan, whether constructed over a bench or seat of some sort, or built at the entrance to a pathway. A simple timber latticework structure becomes the perfect foil for climbing plants, like sweet-smelling jasmine or a flowering vine like wisteria. For arbor plans, review outdoor plans.
  5. A lattice screen made with slats of wood is a great idea for adding privacy to a backyard patio. Lattice panels are available off-the-shelf, or you can make your own.
  6. A pergola, topped with nursery shade netting or even smothered with climbing plants, offers shade in the sunny months. If you want to use a pergola during winter or during the rainy season (depending of course where you live), you will need to consider a more solid covering. Fiberglass sheeting is a suitable option, but you will need to ensure the beams are positioned so that there is a slight runoff for water (a 1:20 gradient is ideal).
  7. A garden pond for koi or even ordinary goldfish is the last of our top seven landscape ideas for backyards. These may be built with a range of materials from solid bricks to relatively inexpensive flexible plastic pond liners. While any design must be waterproof, a koi pond also needs to be deeper and you should incorporate a pump and filter to keep the pond water clean and healthy.

Swimming Pools And Spas

The idea of incorporate a swimming pool, spa or hot tub into a backyard landscape design is one that appeals to many people. The only reason these are not included in our top seven ideas list is because they involve a level of expertise and don’t generally fit the realm of DIY. Still, a hot spa tops my favorite backyard feature list.

There’s nothing quite like soaking in the bubbling water either in summer, after swimming in a nice cool pool, or in winter, while the rain drizzles down on your face. If this doesn’t appeal to you, a spa may also be located on a covered patio.

Filed Under: Arbors/Pergolas, Articles, Blog, Decks, Design, How To

General Guide to a Wrought Iron Gazebo

September 8, 2009 By Peter Leave a Comment

Uses of a Gazebo

There are many reasons why people choose to have a gazebo in their yard. Going back to their more traditional purpose, it was very common back in Victorian times for women to hide from the sun in the shade that the gazebo offered, and it became a place where discussion and general gossip could be enjoyed.

No doubt people still use the gazebo for this practical purpose, but they can also be used as support for plants and shrubs that need some support in order to grow. A wrought iron gazebo that is covered in a selection of attractive plants can be a really stunning addition to any garden, and this is indeed one reason why they are so popular.

In most cases, the gazebo is used as some kind of location for relaxing or socializing. Many people use their gazebo as a place where they can escape from the general chaos of the house and enjoy some personal time, quietly reading or listening to music. Some people even go so far as to build a gazebo over a hot tub, providing the ultimate relaxing spot to unwind and which also provides some increased privacy.

Gazebo Materials

Whatever purpose you have for your gazebo, its important to know a bit about the most common materials that they are made out of. One of the most popular choices when it comes to materials is wood. Classic, stylish, and attractive, wood seems the perfect choice for many people. Cedar is a great choice for a spa gazebo.

But beware: wood is a very high-maintenance material. You will need to apply varnish or paint to it on a regular basis if you are to protect it from the weather which can destroy a wooden gazebo in very little time if the proper care is not taken. The most popular woods are hardwoods such as cedar and teak, but even these require great care and attention.

Alternatively, vinyl is commonly used now as a cheap, strong, and low-maintenance option for a gazebo. However, although it will certainly require very little work, some people do not think that it has the charm of wood, and in a way they are right. Many people like the traditional feel of a gazebo, and vinyl struggles to recreate that.

Wrought Iron Gazebos

There is one material that wins on most counts: wrought iron. This sturdy material is build to last indefinitely, and also has a certain elegance about it that cannot be found in the other materials.

There is also another huge benefit: wrought iron can be painted any color you want, meaning you could add some real creativity into the garden, whereas the other materials do not have this option.

Before You Erect Your Wrought Iron Gazebo

Once you have chosen to go with wrought iron, there are a few more considerations you need to make before you go about erecting your gazebo.

The first consideration is whether you would like an open gazebo or a screened gazebo? If you are only likely to use your gazebo in the summer due to the weather conditions in the winter, then you will probably just want to keep it open. However, if you would like to sit in your gazebo throughout the winter months, admiring your garden as the seasons change, then you will need to get it screened. This can be accomplished with doors or windows, and will mean you can enjoy it throughout the year.

Also, consider how large you would like the gazebo to be. If it is just going to be a private space for you, then you will not need it to be particularly big, and perhaps a diameter of 10 feet will be fine. But if you are going to be entertaining the masses inside and around the gazebo then something more substantial will be required, with anything up to a diameter of 20 feet.

Lastly, remember that you may be required to get a building permit in order to erect your gazebo. This is more likely for a large wrought iron gazebo because it may be a more permanent structure, so check before you start in order to save yourself a lot of hassle down the line.

Filed Under: Arbors/Pergolas, Articles, Blog, How To

Are You Thinking of Purchasing Discount Garden Arbors?

January 17, 2009 By Peter Leave a Comment

Garden arbors are wonderful thing and they add appeal to any garden. This is because they create a nice focal point as a stand alone outdoor structure or very functional if you have climbing vines growing on it. They can also be quite functional by dividing up areas or providing a gate or bench. Garden arbors have the ability to single-handedly make a garden, but the one drawback is that some can be very expensive.

That is where discount garden arbors come in. Discount arbors can be a custom orders that were returned or arbors that are purchased at wholesale prices and sold (usually online) at a cheaper price than what you would be able to find in a store. Right now there are great deals out there online and at stores, so it is a good idea to look around and get your best price.

The first thing that you need to consider when purchasing a discount garden arbor is the place to purchase it from.  There are some stores that sell regular arbors that will also have arbors of the discount variety because some stores will have custom orders that were returned and do not fit into any of their typical selling categories.  These are obviously the best discount arbors available and should be the ones that you snap up immediately if you are able to find one.  However, because people are always on the lookout for a good deal, custom orders that are returned are usually purchased pretty quickly, especially when the store advertises that they have a discount garden arbor.

This means that your best bet is likely going to be going to the internet in order to make your purchase; but that is pretty simple to do these days.  The internet has developed a lot in recent years, and you will find that there are a significant number of honest dealers on the internet that will be able to get you very good merchandise.

Since you can not inspect the quality of the arbor before you purchase it, you need to be sure you are purchasing from a worthwhile company.  Try to search for reviews on that company from other websites and blogs and if at all possible try to purchase from a company with a money back guarantee.  These are simple, common sense things to do but they will greatly reduce the chance that you get burned by purchasing a discount garden arbor online.

Another way to save money and get a great arbor is to build your own. If you have never built an arbor before but you are handy with tools it is a great idea to use a good set of plans. For more information on this idea please check out this article on garden arbor plans.

Filed Under: Arbors/Pergolas, Articles, Design, Gardening

Pergola Designs – What to Consider When You Are Going to Build a Wood Pergola

October 15, 2008 By Peter Leave a Comment

More and more often, people who have grown a bit tired of their patio are choosing to build a pergola over it. Pergolas are also perfect to cover a walkway between two buildings, and for other uses as well. What is a pergola?  It is an open wooden frame supported by posts at regular intervals, and beams across the top that are sometimes crisscrossed with latticework. It creates an outdoor room, albeit one without walls or a roof! It gives you a feeling of being both inside and outside at the same time, which is very pleasant. Pergolas were quite popular in Italian Renaissance gardens, often doing double duty as grape arbors. They were also used in Greece, Rome, and Egypt.

A pergola might not sound very appealing to you if you are picturing a frame of plain wood in your mind. But most pergola designs are far from being plain! The framework of the structure is perfect for the support of all sorts of climbing flowers and plants. Hanging baskets work very well with one of these structures, too. You can create a veritable bower of color and shape that will enhance your patio beautifully, making it a perfect location for entertaining in the warmer months.

There will be no worries about too much sun during a morning or afternoon party if it is held beneath your pergola! You will find it easy to choose plants that will grow to form an enchanted area of dappled sunlight. A pergola is much more versatile than just a plain patio, and it is a lot cheaper to build than it would be to tear out the concrete that makes up your patio and replant the area with sod. Place one above your hot tub, or use your fire pit beneath it in the autumn and winter. You will find that a pergola can be used in different ways, year round.

For the complete story, please click on wood pergola designs.

Filed Under: Arbors/Pergolas, Articles, Blog, Design, How To
« Older Posts