Spring is a little deliberate this year. Some years it almost summer before we realize it, but this time it seems to tease a little. That gives us plenty of time to think about landscaping. We have been considering garden arbors for several years as a way to make the garden a little more formal and to set it apart a bit from the neighbors. A lot of talk – the children were tired of hearing us discuss all the types of garden arbors that we might want. So now it’s time to get serious about it! We started with discussions about the materials that could be used to make one – did we want a wooden one? Perhaps metal? I saw a metal one the other day that looked lovely, tracery of delicate wrought iron giving it real elegance. It was so beautiful it almost took your breathe away. Even a non-gardener type of person who have been blown away by not only it’s beauty but also the elegance it possessed.
It seemed prudent at this point to decide where we wanted to put the garden arbor and what we wanted it to do. As we remembered what we had seen, we thought that most people used it as a way to get from one part of the yard to another, particularly if there was a fence. Sometimes the arbor was long, like a three foot tunnel, and had a bench where you could sit and rest and smell the roses – literally!! Does that ever conjure up pictures of resting from the garden chores and sitting to dream about the joys of summer, or sitting with a friend and chatting in the warmth and perfume of the sunny garden – Wow!. Picture fragrant climbing roses covering this arbor – what a delight! Setting the garden areas apart isn’t the only use of the arbor, though. Of ten the romantic rose covered arbor we so often used to see in pictures of romantic English gardens were also gateways. The garden arbor was placed at the beginning of the walk or path to the house; it had the roses or ivy climbing over it, and it would support a gate that could be kept closed. This makes a gentle, old-fashioned entry to a home, welcoming yet somewhat apart from the world outside. It also helps keeps your pets and small children inside in the safety of your home.
My husband, being more of a practical and less romantic bent was taken with the plainer looking garden arbors made of wood or metal, or, in some cases, both. Some of those were quite sleek and modern looking and some were very rustic. We discussed making one ourselves, maybe it would be cheaper, we thought. In the end, though, we decided against that – fortunately we considered our carpentry skill, the other things our busy lives keep us doing, and the importance of having a well built and sturdy, as well as beautiful, addition to our garden design.