Wooden arbors lend a sense of grandeur to a garden. They provide dimension and beauty and can be practical as well as attractive. Not only are wooden arbors inexpensive, starting at around $200 and going up to whatever you want to spend, but they are also easy to construct, especially if purchased in kit form. Consider the many uses and applications for one in your yard.

Build a special spot

There is always room for inspiration in a beautiful backyard. Whether your desire is to create somewhere to sit and watch the birds, play with the kids or the dog, cook a barbecue or simply meditate, wooden arbors are just right.

Choose one in an oriental style if you have a fishpond with goldfish swimming around, or a style that would be more at home in an English cottage garden if your garden is filled with lavender, petunias and roses. Allow the flowers to climb the trellis-like sides of the arbor and decorate it naturally.

Create a wedding venue

With more couples choosing to marry in a garden setting these days, wooden arbors come in very handy, especially if the wedding is to be held at home for economical reasons. Any ordinary yard can come to life with an arbor as the focal point and if it is festooned in white flowers, you are bound to receive a request sooner or later to host a happy couple’s nuptials there. What would be even prettier is a winding path that leads to the arbor; perfect for an aisle.

Sit and reflect

In every busy day, there should be time for a moment of reflection. Wooden arbors can be built to incorporate a wooden seat into the structure, and whatever the season, it can be wonderful to go outdoors and sit amongst the blooms or even with a light dusting of snow at your feet, and ponder the mysteries of life or the possibilities of tomorrow.

The right treatment

Depending on the appearance of your house and yard, wooden arbors can blend into the background if you like or they can offset the styling of the house. Paint it in the same colors as the house. Give it a roof in the same materials as the house’s roof. Hang pretty terracotta pots from the sides, in which you can grow herbs, miniature roses or ferns. If you like the idea of the arbor integrating with the environment, forget about painting it and allow the wood to weather in the elements and it will take on a natural appearance.

Wooden arbors have great potential as decorative pieces for your yard, back or front. Positioned over the pathway at the front, they make a magical transition from the street to the welcoming threshold of your home. In a picturesque corner, they appeal to small children as a hidey-hole and pets as a retreat from harsh sunshine or light rain. Build one into your front gate structure so that you have somewhere protected from the weather to welcome guests onto your property, or to inspect the mail for interesting letters from friends.

The great thing about wooden arbors is that they are so easy to construct. You can buy them in kit form and have one up in just a few hours. There are plenty of styles to choose from, whether your garden is classical or contemporary, casual or more formal, quirky or subdued.

They permit creative input because you can adorn them, leave them plain, change the color as you wish, add a roof or not, surround them with outdoor furniture and cover them in foliage or gorgeous, fragrant blooms.

When everything else in your yard seems to be at ground level like the garden beds, the pathways, driveway and low voltage lighting, wooden arbors add that extra dimension by creating height. And while you are at it, light it up with low voltage outdoor lighting to really make a focal point of it.