Building our Pergola

We decided last year that we would really like to add some height to our garden and as a lover of all things Italian I started looking into pergolas. This type of structure would add height and mean we could grow plants up to add layers of foliage and beauty. We are lucky enough to have a big cherry tree in our garden but apart from that and clematis at the back near the potting shed our foliage is all rather low lying. We have added a plum tree and some raspberry canes to increase height and now the pergola will give us many more options.

Our biggest issue when we started looking into getting one was to get something wide enough for our space. We didn’t want any beams down the middle of the pergola, just ones in the corners. We eventually found one big enough through a company on eBay and having never bought anything this way before it was a first for us.

Paul enlisted the help of our good friends Adam and Emily and they managed to get the whole thing up in a day (even with a later start as a trip to Screwfix was needed after the drill was found broken). I’m already amazed at the difference it makes; it feels more like a planned and intentional garden than previously.

So far we have planted wisteria on the front righthand side and a climbing rose on the left. The wisteria was reasonably big and we have planted straight into the flower bed as the other flowers around it were strawberries and lambs ear so wouldn’t prevent it from establishing itself. The climbing rose was still rather small and young and as it is going into a bed with big raspberry vines and an apple tree we have popped it into a nice big pot for at least the next year so that it can grow happily and gain strength before we replant it in the bed to do battle with the others.

We chose to put the wisteria on the righthand side as we get the evening sun on the left. Wisteria grows well and covers thickly (we are certainly hoping!) so we have put it on the side that doesn’t provide the beautiful sunset. The climbing rose won’t be as full and I can happily trim that and have bouquets of roses on the kitchen table which is why we chose it for the left.

Also on the left, we dug out an old bench that has been living down the side of the house since we moved in and Paul says it’s in good nick so we are going to paint it dark grey and keep it to the side of the patio, under the pergola and climbing rose and cover it in terracotta pots of all shapes and sizes.

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What exciting garden plans do you have this summer? Do you like to garden? We’d love it if you left us a comment telling us what you are up to.

Livvy and Summer