How a pergola adds drama and focus to your summer garden
There are a number of positions where a pergola can serve year-round. It can be joined to your house as an airy overhang on the patio (as early pergolas were), or free-standing, marking out a sitting position or a walkway and/or gate in the garden laced in soft, woody, flowering climbers.
Some householders prefer the lines of their pergola to be completely uninterrupted by green stuff like ivy and roses, and in timber, they can sit in a cottage yard as well as the garden of a suburban semi-D. Containers can be set at the base of the posts for gorgeous displays you can shift around depending on what's giving its all at that time of year.
Pergolas of any kind look especially beautiful set by water on a small deck if you're lucky enough to have a large pond or even a swimming pool, as you're looking through the structure and not complicating the view. If you don't want the pergola against the house, consider placing it against a fence or garden wall, being careful that no part of the roof overhangs your boundary.
Think about using one or even two sides (set in a corner) to show off a stunning border or raised beds with plants that will thrive in its slightly shady but open conditions. Play up its height to break up the boring planes of a one-level garden. USB-charged or solar fabric lanterns are perfect for hanging from the rafters of an open-roofed pergola — magical by night.
A retractable pergola offers great versatility, here in aluminium from a selection at Outdoor Living. Model shown from Verano (NL), Outdoor.
Generally, pergolas gentle a breeze and diffuse glaring light, but typical and affordable pergolas used alone are not intended as protection from drizzle or driving rain. Variations on a typical rustic design channel the look but offer greater versatility and a surprising degree of optional engineering.
Many homeowners with side-access at their homes connect the back garden to a driveway as classical pergolas joined pavilions, roofing in a pergola style structure in aluminium, wood, or fibreglass as a wall-mounted carport. These additions are a bit of an aesthetic Marmite, but taking the shopping to the front or back door, they can be a huge help in a streamlined choice.
Tricking with the traditional open roof, there's also a new generation of what's termed 'bioclimatic pergolas' with a steel and adjustable, fabric louvred roof that can be set to open or close according to the weather conditions. You might have seen something like this in retractable roofing in a pub's beer garden. Some models include downpipes to sheet off rain when closed and even solar panels to independently operate the roof.
With integrated LED lighting, motorised mechanisms, glass walls and shading zip screens at the touch of a button, we're a thousand years from a romantic horticultural spot for a couple of chairs surrounded by frothing wisteria. Check out Awnings.ie and Outdoorliving.ie if you're seriously tempted by a very special spot. Prices for Zeus, Mirador and Biohort from €2,500 for a 3m x 3m bioclimatic pergola with crank-shut louvres. For a pergola-type wall-mounted 3m x 3m canopy (veranda) with an aluminium frame, solid polycarbonate roof and gutters, expect to pay from €1000 (assembling it yourself).
Down at B&Q, the Klikstorm Alize is a serious bargain in a large pergola style with a retractable fabric canopy for any backdoor patio. The canvas shade even comes off for easy cleaning over the winter, €499, Diy.ie.
Returning to the dappled shade the Romans loved, you could add half walls in timber to create more protection from the wind and sun, delivering somewhere to position outdoor sofas and chairs. Adding glazing or trellis above the half walls on two sides further encloses this little building. Just work with the aspect of the room you have available. If you have to get undercover, a timber gazebo with an apex pitched roof in slow-grown pressure-treated larch would be a better option than a pergola. Bigger suppliers like The Shed Factory will offer both styles with prices from €930, Shedfactoryireland.ie.
There's nothing more satisfying than making something yourself, sized to your highly specific needs. Even a small yard can be raftered into a pergola. B&Q offers a neat little guide on building your own pergola (it could be for a deck or walkway; the steps are the same). Just add up the price of the elements, including all fixings, before you start, as the effort and expense might outstrip the cost of having a pergola made for you and put up by a local carpenter or buying in a simple kit. See Diy.ie/ideas-advice/how-to-build-a-pergola/CC_npci_100128.art.
Vented sides added to a bioclimatic pergola-style building increase its level of protection from sun and wind. File picture
With easily available timber elements, a saw, hammer, drill, coach-bolts and quick-set post concrete, pergolas are not intricate to design or assemble, but putting them up is most definitely a two-person job. Fastening the pergola to the ground securely is extremely important. You'll be using anchors on concrete and digging in posts for every other surface. Don't hang anything (not even a chair, swing, or hammock) from a pergola unless you're sure it's rated for the weight and set on a jointed area.
Explore what other people have done to make their pergola unique. Dark, dramatic painted wood is trending this summer. Putting it together, you could replace the pergola's wood rafters with lengths of steel rebar, sticks with their bark on, or incorporate stone at the base of the posts if you're handy. A metal frame can carry wood rafters for contrast and interest.
Adding curtain poles between the posts, and strong eyelet curtains can close off one or more sides of your pergola as the sun moves around, or you want additional privacy. Soft joints with furry green planting like micro-clover and creeping thyme bring a natural carpet right into your pergola. The spacing and sizing of the rafters can make a big difference to light transmission and the final look of your build.
Maintaining your timber pergola, pay particular attention to plants using it for elevation. They will draw more moisture to the structure, which can allow rot and algae to take hold. Trim plants back to keep them under control and to allow the posts and rafters to dry out fully after rain.
Pressure treating will protect your garden feature from fungal decay and insect infestation for many years, but every summer go over the pergola, looking for any damage or loosened screws. A quick check with a level will reassure you that it's still upright and stable. Powder-coated steel and aluminium pergolas just need a wipe down with soap and water once a year to refresh their modern, good looks.
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