The Versatile Garden Arbor

What inexpensive spring or summertime project will beautify your yard or garden while enhancing the value of your home? A garden arbor. This simple structure, often used as a vine covered entranceway into the yard, can also serve as a shady place to sit and relax or have a picnic. It serves as an elegant focal point while providing strong support for climbing or vining plants such as morning glories, roses, clematis and honeysuckle. Some are designed with gates, swings or benches built into them and make great use of small spaces.

Arbor Designs

Arched roof or flat. Formal or informal. Classic or modern. It is certain there is a design to suit your home’s architecture and landscaping. Do you fancy a rose-covered archway leading into an English cottage garden? How about a wide arbor blanketed with honeysuckle sheltering a table and chairs? Or is a modern looking arbor with no plants at all more to your liking? The choices are many and varied.

Garden Arbor Materials

Wood, metal and, in more recent years, vinyl, are all common materials used in their construction. Wood is usually cedar, redwood or pressure treated lumber because these resist pests and decay. Aluminum, iron or copper are the metals frequently used. Vinyl is a carefree choice requiring little maintenance and no painting.

DIY Arbors

There are a variety of arbor plans available in books, magazines and on the Internet for the handy individual with access to the right tools. The tools required for this project are: carpenter’s level, jigsaw, circular saw or handsaw, drill, wood chisel, spade bit, file, hammer, wrench, tape measure, stepladder, shovel, wheelbarrow, and hose. Materials that will need to be purchased include: lumber, gravel, concrete, deck screws, bolts, washers and nuts.

Arbor Kits

If you’re short on tools, expertise or time yet still want the sense of accomplishment of constructing the garden arbor yourself, a kit is the answer. No need to tie up the garage for days or make trips back to the lumberyard for things you forgot. Everything is included and ready for assembly.

No matter the material or method of construction, a garden arbor adds appeal to the entrance of a home. A swing under the shelter of a vine-covered bower entices on a warm summer day. There is no more pleasant place to converse with friends and family than within its fragrant shade. These attractive structures add immediate charm to any yard or garden.

Garden Arbor Plans - Free

Garden arbor bench
You can add a little romance to your garden with this handsome arbor bench. The freestanding 60-inch-wide, 30-inch-deep, 86-inch-high...

Sunset

Arbor (PDF)

The arbor will add dimension and character to any yard or garden.

Georgia-Pacific