Rarely do people know that when they walk from a building to another and the connecting walkway that has an open structure covered with hanging plants is called a pergola. Pergolas were usually made of wood and there were side posts with open cross beams that were the roof. The cross beams of the roof were not joined together but were spaced. Fast growing plants and vines were planted along the sides which were made to climb on to the structure and cover the roof. This was a pleasant walkway that was used to connect two buildings. Imagine taking a leisurely stroll through a pergola which has bunches of grapes hanging from the roof and the pleasant aroma of flowers fills the air. The Greeks and the Romans were past masters in architecture and craftsmanship and most architectural ideas are taken from them.
A pergola does not necessarily have to connect two buildings a pergola can be a walkway that leads to the garden or can even be an independent structure. Most traditional pergolas where made of wood as the vines and plants that were grown over them took their roots in the wooden structure. Wood blends in with the plants so one does not feel that they are walking under any artificial structure. Today one can get a pergola kit or an aluminum pergola. Plans for building a pergola are also easy to come by. Should one want to build a pergola one should measure the distance that will be covered by the pergola and then choose the material for its construction. After measuring the distance and deciding on the material also decide on the plants that will grow on to the pergola. This is very important as having a lightweight structure with heavy weight plants will cause the pergola to sag and may also eventually break. Start from the outermost and then the center ones and then keep on dividing the distance in half till the required number of posts has been determined. Dig out the post holes and make sure that they are equally spaced and aligned. Then put in the posts and make sure that they are firmly anchored in the ground. After that one can put up the roof crossbeams and the interlacing beams of the roof. The design of the roof beams will depend on the selected design. If it’s a wooden pergola then paint the pergola and sow the plants in beds along the pergola sides. One will need to help the plants to climb up the pergola and not spread out on the ground. Once the plants have started finding their way on the pergola they will need to be pruned so that they look pleasant and don’t block the pergola. Also their weight should not strain the structure of the pergola.
One can easily order a pergola kit and construct it or one can design and construct a pergola. One can have a garden pergola, a door pergola or an aluminum pergola. There are plenty of free pergola plans for one to choose from and there are a number of pergola builders and pergola kit suppliers. One will not have a problem in finding a pergola of their choice. Aluminum pergolas have now gained popularity as aluminum is a strong metal and lightweight and does not rust so it is ideally suited for external structures. Decks, pergolas gazebos and sunrooms are now being made using aluminum because of its inherent qualities.
A pergola leading up to the house or leading from the house to the backyard garden adds a touch of romance to the house.
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