Have you ever surveyed your domain and found the landscape a little, well, flat? Adding an arbor can give your back, front, or side yard a vertical element, boosting the interest of your landscaping.
What is an arbor?
Arbors are vertical structures that mostly serve as an accent, although they provide a smidgen of shade and privacy. They can be freestanding or attached to a wall or fence, made of wood, wrought iron or other materials. Usually, they stand about eight to ten feet tall.
Arbors are sometimes mixed up with trellises, which are smaller and more delicate, or pergolas, which are much wider.
Benefits of an arbor
Arbors are a pretty garden feature, either because of their design or because they’re often covered with trailing plants. In Texas, lots of plants thrive on arbors. Some of our favorites are purple wisteria, yellow Carolina jessamine, old-fashioned honeysuckle, sweet-smelling Confederate star jasmine, and thornless Lady Banksia roses.
Arbors also bring order to your garden by setting off different areas. Not to get too deep on a fence blog, but just as walking through an arbor is an entry to a different part of your yard, it works metaphorically to put you in a different mental space, too. You can use an arbor to mark off a special peaceful part of your domain.
Once you have this beautiful arbor-adorned kingdom or queendom, how could you ever leave it? But if for some reason you do, attractive elements, like arbors, help increase the value of your home. In a competitive market, beautiful little touches like arbors – and, of course, big touches like an attractive and sturdy fence – pay off.
Attached gate
As fence designers and builders, we love a strong and beautiful arbor as a place to attach a gate. If you’re in the design stage of a new home, or doing a makeover on your existing home, we want to help. Call your friends at Buzz today and we can brainstorm your outdoor structures, including fences, gates, walls and arbors.
Photo Courtesy of Paul Hunyady on Flickr
