one of our members who doesn't come around anymore, Renee, she had one of those, big enough to have a table and chairs in it. it was awesome, and i've wanted one since i saw hers!
Here in Kansas it is called an Arbor. I finally invested in one from Homedepot. My husband put the kit together in about an hour. It came prepainted white with the seat that fits between the supports. I too have been dreaming about one and finally decided "do it". It is wonderful. Love to sit down and rest while working in the flowers and garden. I put it out back against daughters suggestion of front yard for "people to see". I love it where I can use it and enjoy it. Was so worried about moisture damage to legs we dug a place out of the sod and dirt. Laid down 3-4inches of sand, 10 paving tiles and filled in with sand. Landscaping fabric is lining the whole thing. Rain drains down and it sits on a very slight incline to promote drainage. The arbor legs sits on the paving stones. So hopefully will stayed dried out. The whole thing is surrounded by black roll top edging. I worked up the ground on both sides and plan to plant morning glories this summer and then decide about something permanate.
Definitely an arbor. About the legs if you will dig out your hole extra deep and then put gravel in the bottom for the legs to stand on and then fill with concrete you will not have to worry about rotting. That is as long as dirt doesn't get on top of the concrete. You can then always hide the concrete with some nice planters placed on top of them.
We had a wrought iron builder join the forum last year. I think he posted in the old landscape section. He would definitely be able to do the work. But finding his few posts would be awfully hard. Good luck on your search.
BTW dated a builder and he built me an arbor. Otherwise I'd never have known how or why they are done that way lol.
There is another alternative. You can use those pryamid blocks as the base for the posts. I don't like the look of them but it is easier than digging in say hardpack or heavy clay. If that's a problem you encounter. And if you use them it would make moving the arbor much easier if that is a concern.
Last edited by tkhooper; Apr 6th, 2007 at 05:27 AM. Reason: more words!
By the way... if you are planning on sitting under it at all, be careful of bird droppings!!! I bought a nice black wrought iron arbor/bench 2 summers ago, and put some pretty cushions on the bench, but I've not been able to sit on it yet!!! :mad: The first summer I had 2 different vines growing over the arbor, and the birds loved the flowers and dirtied the cushions every single day! last summer, I did not grow vines on it, thinking the birds would leave it alone- but nooooooooooooo - they used it as a perch to eat the seeds from the feeders on, and the cushions once again were unusable!
THIS summer, I plan on getting some waterproof fabric and sewing a top to attach to the arbor - hopefully it will make it both colorful and usable, as I plan on moving it closer to the new pond we are putting in.
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