The pergola is understated by nature, an empty frame to accent or support. It doesn't look like much on its own, but a garden without a pergola is like a room without a rug: something is missing but you can't quite put your finger on what.
Almost every garden I love has a pergola, but it wasn't until I started to look up at the wooden slats that frame the sky that I came to understand the transformative potential of the simple outdoor structure. Here are 10 ways to improve your garden with a pergola, straight from a pergola convert.
Create Architectural Interest in a Flat Landscape
Above: Photograph by Annette O'Brien for The Design Files.
A square outdoor area or extensive acreage over a flat plane calls for some vertical interest, an architectural element to break up the landscape and inspire new planting patterns around it. Take a backyard (Above) designed by Grounded Gardens in Melbourne, Australia, where a thin iron pergola frames an outdoor dining area of pale slate. For more of this garden, see our recent post, Designer Visit: A Modern Courtyard to Covet in Melbourne.
Add Shade Coverage During Summer Months
Above: A modern steel and wood pergola in a garden by Ishka Designs on South Oxford Street in Brooklyn's Fort Greene neighborhood. Photograph by Niya Bascom Photography.
Summer weather calls for entertaining outdoors. But without a pergola, one can only expect to do so in the early morning or the evening. A pergola designed with cloth laths provides shade for mid-day sun, allowing for more time spent in the garden.
Train Fragrant Vines to Grow Overhead
Above: Wisteria traces the edge of a white painted pergola at the Long Island home of Vogue's editor, Anna Wintour, whose garden was designed by Miranda Brooks.
Wild roses and wisteria, or any other floral vine blooming above pathways and outdoor seating, will transport a simple garden to a different time and place.
Grow Productive Fruit or Vegetables
Above: Photograph by Henry Bourne for T Magazine.
Climbing vegetables such as squash, runner beans, cucumbers, and grapes can be grown up and over a backyard pergola. Take the London patio of designer Faye Toogood with a slender burnt wood pergola to support a few climbing grapevines.
Weave Fabric Through a Pergola
Above: Woven fabric takes on a similar function when rectangular strips of canvas drop cloth are threaded through the laths of a wooden pergola in DIY: Instant Painter's Drop Cloth Pergola.
Hang Outdoor Lights on an Open Pergola
Above: A Scandinavian lighting trend, looped string lights on a black cord, hang from the center of a pergola in the backyard of Swedish blogger Sofia of Failins Stil. Other options include a chandelier, lantern, or long strands of string lights to create ambient lighting in the evening.
String up a Hammock
Above: A woven hammock between the columns of a bamboo-covered pergola at San Giorgio Mykonos, a design element that promotes naps and afternoon reading.
Blur the Boundary Between Indoors and Out
Above: A cantilevered pergola functions as an extension of the house on a rooftop in Chelsea, New York City, designed by Brook Landscape.
Add Shade to a Balcony or Rooftop Garden
Above: A pitched pergola on a prefab house in Paris by Djuric Tardio has slats to create an open air lounge area on the rooftop.
A balcony or rooftop is likely to be more exposed than an average backyard. To limit sun exposure, add a small pergola on a balcony, or a large structure over a rooftop garden.
Create Filtered Lightscapes in the Garden
Watch the sun move across the sky throughout the day and enjoy the wells of light and shadow created by the slats of the pergola. Lightscapes are even more apparent—dappled—when vines are trained overhead. Above is the the home of Melissa and Damian Bombardier in Australia; see the Before and After in A Sydney Ranch House Transformed on Remodelista.
For more garden tips and pergola inspiration see our recent posts:
- An Instant Garden Walkway, Courtesy of a Swedish Pergola.
- Landscape on a Budget: 10 Quick Fixes to Add Personality to the Average Garden.
- 10 Tips for a Simplified Garden, to Grow More with Less.
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