How to Improve Your Garden with a Pergola

How to Improve Your Garden with a Pergola

A pergola is often the ideal solution to complement or complete an outdoor space. With the right vision and planning, a pergola can create a new living space that combines the best of both indoors and outdoors.

Pergolas are an excellent way to add shade and privacy, or create a transitional area, while preserving a sense of openness to the sky above. This post shows you ways to improve your garden by installing a pergola.

There are many different types of pergola to choose from when selecting the right one for your garden. It really depends on the shade structure you want. Long-lasting natural wood designs are highly recommended. The size of the pergola will be determined by the area you have to work with, alongside other factors.

Types of Pergola

Here are some of the types of pergola that you can choose from.

Arched Pergola

It comprises a beautiful lattice panel roof construction that also maximizes shade.

Garden Pergola

Vintage in terms of its traditional post and beam construction. It will save you time since it is a standalone.

Louvered Pergola

This garden pergola comprises excellent and durable louvers as the primary roof component. Being adjustable, you can control the amount of sunlight shining through.

Montvale Pergola

This one really catches the eye as a grid roof is achieved by joining the timbers perpendicularly in a cross-notched fashion, allowing the timbers to line up at the same height. Curved diagonal braces complete this masterpiece of a design.

Marin Outdoor Kitchen Pergola

This type of pergola has an arching open-roof and is very versatile. It doesn’t just have to be a kitchen.

Viking Pergola

This design is aesthetically pleasing and is a sturdy backdrop to your outdoor space.

Dome Pergola

This voluptuous design will stand out in the midst of any landscape. Diligently handcrafted wood is the cornerstone of this structure.

Small Pergola

In case you’re short on space, this design is for you. They are less than a 10″ x 10″ and can also be made attached or with an arched roof.

Fan Pergola

A distinctive style for distinctive outdoor spaces. Two or three of these can accentuate a larger landscape or one large one can serve as a full outdoor great room.

Before Constructing Your Pergola

If you’re looking to attach a pergola to your home, you should consider things like how high your eaves are, presence of windows or pocket doors, what material the wall is made of and what the ground is made up of.

To make a pergola which blends in seamlessly with the existing structure, you have to use a ledger board. You should also use lag bolts on every other framing timber. On rare occasions, joist hangers are added for additional strength. If obstructions or other wall details render the ledger board unworkable, custom metal anchors are used.

Maximize Shading Capabilities

With the standard open roof pergola, you should align the rafters north and south. Subsequently, as the sun goes over your rafters, so will your shadow length correspond with abundant shade achieved during morning and afternoon hours. A portion of the sun only seeps through for a few hours usually around noon.

Always Notch Your Timber

For your pergola to stand the test of time, you must get it fully notched. This involves tying in every piece of timber to its neighbour through grooves.

While this is a very painstaking venture and increases the cost significantly, it is imperative that it’s done in order to distribute the stresses throughout the structure for a stronger pergola that will not bend on you.

Also, you can be assured that no timber will ever move an inch thereby keeping your pergola straight and looking beautiful over time. Overlooking this procedure will lead to buckled and shrivelled timbers.

Choosing the Right Timber

If your goal is to improve the look of your garden by investing in a pergola, look to purchase quality timber that is thicker and more decay-resistant.

Cedar provides a high bug and decay resistance, but it cannot outlast Redwood. Oak framing is a solid choice with it being a hardwood as it is very decay-resistant. If you’re looking for a relatively cheap but nevertheless good quality wood, you can never go wrong with Douglas fir.

Pergolas accentuate your outdoors and can just brighten your mood. You should absolutely own one. Heck some come in their own DIY kit these days and they can be up and functional within 5 hours of assembly! A small price to pay for the pleasure it’ll offer you over a long period of time.

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