Thursday, December 25, 2008

Outdoor Structures and You

By Phil Morris

It's amazing how many great garden and outdoor structures are available these days. When you have these kinds of choices, it's hard to decide what will look best in your yard. Sometimes the best way to go about deciding is to look at your family activity and see which one fits the best.

Let's start with the trellis. You will find trellises in both the front and back yards in gardens of all kinds and against large and small walls and buildings to help tame the mass of climbing vines. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes and you can use them virtually any and everywhere.

If you're looking to get more bang for your buck, try an arbor. They're very popular in gardens and can be used to create stand alone focal points in your yard. Using arbors with trellised sides can be a wonderful way of utilizing the climbing vines that will fill in the sides and top thus creating an elegant canopy throughout the arch that is just lovely.

To create a larger area that can be walked under or to install a patio or eating area under, a pergola will make a great choice. Pergolas have some inadvertent shade capabilities with the slatted top but with flowers and vines can also have a canopy of blooms like arbors. Many people talk about the peace of the pergola. There seems to be something about letting partial sunshine in that connects you to nature. What a benefit that is!

One of the largest outdoor structures that are really fun is the gazebo. Gazebos are natural gathering places and can be used anywhere in the yard where you want people to be able to congregate and have a good time. They can be easily used beside a swimming pool or out in the yard all by itself. They are beautiful and always ready for a party or private dinner and are very versatile.

A couple of other structures that get overlooked at times are raised beds and bridges. Raised beds can be used to create stand alone flowerbeds anywhere in the yard. There is no digging required and they're easy to put together and use. Bridges are for those special places that have a water feature or low spot in the yard. They can really make an uninteresting landscape interesting.

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