Architectural elements like decks, pergolas and gazebos offer sheltered nooks for entertaining or privacy, especially when paired with plants. Smaller garden structures like trellises and arbors are perfect for climbing vines. Garden sheds are more utilitarian, suitable more for work and storage. Fences and walls create space, serve as backdrops for plants, and make good neighbors.
When planning the perfect garden, homeowners should consider using one of these typical garden structures where appropriate. It's also important to take into account the different materials that can be used to construct these garden amenities, and how they work within the total landscape.
Decks for Home Entertainment
Decks are perfect for entertaining or cooking out – the perennial American backyard structure.
Decks can be large or small, built at ground level or elevated, even multi-level. A slatted decking pattern is good for both gentle slopes or level ground.
There are several good deck materials to choose from. Western red cedar has natural rot resistance, and is a good wood for deck construction. Pressure-treated wood is another good bet. And there are many composition materials and deck kits on the market which makes deck construction that much easier.
Pergolas for Shade and Shelter
Pergolas are garden structures made up of horizontal beams supporting vertical uprights, and are usually covered by plants.
Gardeners have several material choices for pergolas, including rustic post-and-beam, and sawed lumber. Hardwoods work well, but so do softwoods if pressure treated.
Pergolas don’t have to be made from wood. Brick, stone or concrete columns are another choice.
Gazebos for Gardens
Gazebos are open, airy structures with solid roofs that tend to create a feeling of enclosure. Gazebos can be contemporary, rustic, or neoclassical. Wood is the favored building material for gazebos.
Most gazebos are built on a square, hexagon or octagon pattern, and are often elevated several feet above the garden.
Arbors for Focal Points and Intimate Nooks
Arbors are even more open than gazebos, usually have a lattice roof, and are wonderful structures for training climbing vines. Arbors can be simple wire structures to ornate classic-columned works of art. Sunlight through the latticed roof creates a fine, dappled shade.
Arbors, like pergolas, are perfect structures for joining house and garden, and can either be free-standing or physically connected to the home. They're great for creating intimate seating nooks nestled in the garden.
Sheds for Storage
Every garden needs storage space. Sheds are used to store tools and materials, work on equipment and pot plants. Small sheds (or garden lockers) are usually of the lean-to type design, with one side built against a wall. Medium and large sheds may have gable or gambrel roofs, with sliding windows to allow air to circulate.
Common materials for garden sheds are wood, metal, and vinyl. Gardeners can build their own sheds, or order prefabricated, easily assembled kits, such as the ones created by Summerwood Products.
Functional Fences and Walls
These structures are commonly used to mark property boundaries, as windbreaks, decoration, or to contain animals or retain earth.
Fences can be simple or elaborate. The American Horticultural Society's Encyclopedia of Gardening lists several common wood fence types: basket weave, closeboard, wavy edged, shingle, wattle hurdles, lattice, picket, ranch style, splitwood, post-and-rail and interference. Fences also come in chain link, welded wire, and post-and-chain.
Walls are usually more intricate, and harder to build. They can be constructed of brick or stone, and must be laid on a foundation designed for that particular wall, how it’s to be used, and the climate it’s being constructed in. Walls are great for changing elevations and creating a series of shallow terraces on a steeper slope.
Structures contribute to the ornamental and functional framework around which a garden is designed. Well thought out structures provide shelter from sun and weather, serves as backdrops and supports to growing plants, and contribute to he usability of the garden. Garden structures are indeed part of the “bones” of a well designed garden.
Sources:
- The Encyclopedia of Gardening; The American Horticultural Society; 2002, DK Publishing, Inc.
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