If you enjoy backyard gardening or landscaping, no doubt you spend quite a bit of time working in the yard every week.  Planting, tending, and weeding the garden beds can be time consuming, but the lovely results make it all worthwhile.  Increasingly, many homeowners are choosing to add decorative elements to yards and gardens to further enhance their outdoor spaces.  Garden arbors are just one example.  Garden arbors are structures, often made of wood or metal, which provide a charming focal point in a backyard or garden.  They give you the opportunity to create an appealing entry or gateway to a garden retreat or quiet backyard corner.  Garden arbors are an easy and economical way to smarten up a yard or draw the eye to a carefully tended garden.

Features of Garden Arbors

Most garden arbors consist of side panels that double as a trellis for vines and climbing plants.  The tops of garden arbors greatly vary — some feature decorative arches while others have flat, pergola-style tops.  Together, side panels and tops are available in a number of styles to complement different gardens and personal tastes.  For instance, garden arbors can bring an Asian, Moroccan, or Mediterranean flavor to gardens, but they can also bring traditional charm.  Many garden arbors offer the addition of a gate or a bench.  Garden arbors that feature benches make cozy private retreats; just add a comfortable seat cushion and throw pillows made with waterproof fabrics, and you can relax while enjoying the beauty of the garden. 

Before choosing from the many garden arbors available, be sure to measure the width of the path or area where the arbor will be placed to ensure that the garden arbor you prefer is not too narrow or too wide.  One particularly nice feature available in some garden arbors is the ability to adjust the arbor’s width to best fit the desired spot where the arbor will be placed.  Yet another nice feature to look for in garden arbors are concrete anchors that allow you to fasten the structure to the ground and prevent it from being accidentally overturned or blown over by heavy weather.

Materials Used in Garden Arbors

Most garden arbors are made using metal or wood.  Metal garden arbors often feature decorative scroll work or other unique designs along the side panels.  When choosing from the variety of metal garden arbors, look for durable rust-free cast iron construction.  Alternatively, wood garden arbors bring a warm, natural element to gardens.  When selecting one of the available wood garden arbors, look for quality wood, such as western red cedar or eucalyptus wood.  Both western red cedar and eucalyptus are hardy woods that are naturally moisture and insect resistant, and they continue to look good over time with very little upkeep required.  Whether you choose metal or wood, look for garden arbors that are built strongly so that the weight of heavy vines and greenery growing up the side panels and over the top are well supported.

In short, garden arbors add a decorative as well as practical element to yards and gardens.  They allow you to expand your garden upward, and they create a focal point that draws the eye toward a particular area of interest.  Garden arbors are proving to be an inexpensive and easy way to further beautify the look of any outdoor space.

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About the Author:
Trey Collier is owner of BackyardCity.com - Where North America shops for Outdoor Living essentials, including high quality Garden Arbors and Trellises.
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The first step in designing your garden is to draw an accurate ground plan so you know exactly how much space you have to work with. One mistake many people make after measuring the length and width is to forget that there’s another important dimension – height. Extending your garden upwards adds visual interest, can make your garden appear larger, and provides additional growing space, which is especially valuable in a small garden.

Flat Garden

If you have a flat garden with the majority of plants at the same low level, consider using any boundary fences or walls to support climbing plants. A long, blank wall can provide year-round colour and interest if it’s covered with a carefully chosen selection of climbers. Some plants and shrubs will need trellis or guide wires to help them reach the heights while others can scramble up perfectly well on their own.

Fenced Garden

If you are planting against a fence be aware that some mature climbers can be quite heavy so check that the fence posts are firm and the fence itself is strong enough to take the extra weight.

Arches, pergolas and obelisks are popular ways of introducing some height. You can buy them ready-made, choosing a design to fit in with the overall style of your garden, or construct your own. A wide range of plants, decorative, edible or both, can be trained over them. One word of advice: a rose-covered archway looks romantic but you won’t love it if you get scratched every time you pass through! For roses without tears make sure you choose from the many thornless climbing and rambling varieties that are available.      

Planted Garden

Introducing tall plants is an easy way of introducing vertical shapes into your planting scheme. For summer colour, hollyhocks and giant sunflowers are fun to grow and impossible to overlook. Bamboos are fast growing but might need to be contained, and many ornamental grasses are not only tall but also come in some striking colours.

Trees are the tallest plants you can grow, but must be chosen with care if you have limited space. Large trees too close to buildings can cause expensive problems. They will also shade a large area and take a lot of water from the ground, which will affect other plants in the vicinity.

Before you buy a tree check the maximum height it will reach and how far the roots will spread. If you have any doubts it’s always best to get expert advice. The good news is that many specialist tree nurseries can offer small and dwarf varieties that will live happily in restricted spaces.

Vertical Gardening

A relatively new idea in garden design, but one that is generating a lot of interest, is vertical gardening or creating living walls. The idea is to grow plants close together in individual pockets formed in a panel that has a built-in irrigation system. One or more of these panels are then fixed to a wall. Once the plants are established the panel is hidden beneath the foliage giving the impression that the plants are growing out of the wall. The possibility of growing strawberries next to your bedroom window is certainly intriguing!

Planning new features to add height to your garden is the easy part. Carrying out those plans can involve skills you might not have and time you cannot spare. Discuss your ideas with a professional landscape gardener and benefit from his or her experience.

David Smith is the ‘D’ in D&G Garden World, a company that has been in the gardening and fencing business for over 20 years and offers a comprehensive range of landscape gardening, fencing and turfing services throughout Essex and east London. Buy anything from one roll of turf to all the materials necessary to complete a DIY garden makeover, or take advantage of the expert landscaping, turfing and fencing services provided by D&G. For more information visit http://www.dggardenworld.co.uk
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Trellises are a wonderful architectural element to incorporate into your yard or garden.  Not only do they provide a support structure for climbing plants and vines, but they also add a visual focal point to your landscape.  When it comes to trellises, there are as many different designs and styles as you can think of.  Literally, your imagination is the limit, particularly if you’re going to build your own trellis.  In this article, we’ll explore some of the various trellis designs that you might want to consider for your yard.

Obelisks, also known as pyramid trellises, are a very popular design.  Large obelisks that stand 6 foot or taller can provide a really nice focal point for a landscape.  Obelisks can be constructed of many different types of materials, though wood is usually the most popular.  For a natural look, the wood can be stained or coated with a sealant.  If you want a splash of color, consider painting it a bright color to coordinate with the trim on your house.  For something that requires less maintenance, you might want to consider buying an obelisk in a lifetime vinyl material or a rust-free metal.  These products are usually easy to find in specialty garden stores online or through mail order catalogs.

Another nice design is the freestanding patio trellis.  These trellises are actually portable, allowing you to move them around your yard, patio, or garden as needed.  Portable trellises typically feature a pot or planter of some kind at the base, so you can plant climbing flowers or vines to grow up the structure.  Other patio trellises have no planter base, but the trellis itself is particularly decorative or colorful, so rather than providing a support structure for plants, it can simply be used as an outdoor privacy screen.  Along those same lines, multiple trellises can be put together to create a large landscape screen that can shelter a patio, provide privacy for a deck, or cover unsightly clutter, garbage cans, or AC units.

Other trellis designs include those that are shaped to look like something, such as a favorite breed of dog, or a tunnel or small playhouse for your kids to enjoy.  With these trellises, it’s important to choose the type of climbing plant carefully.  For a smaller shaped trellis, choose a very dense climber with small leaves, so that the plant will closely follow the shape of the trellis underneath.  Ivy is a good climbing plant choice that will fit this bill.  For larger structures like a tunnel, choose a climbing plant with large leaves that will grow quickly to cover the entire structure in one season.  Even a squash plant can be trained to do this, and you’ll have the added benefit of some fresh produce, too.

No matter what type of trellis design you choose, make sure that it compliments your overall landscaping plan and the style of your house.  The right trellis design can improve curb appeal and provide a point of visual interest in your yard, creating something special that you’ll enjoy looking at for years to come.

Home Products ‘N’ More offers free shipping on many unique trellis designs, including pyramid and obelisk trellises. Visit us at http://www.homeproductsnmore.com/Unique_Trellises_s/746.htm
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