You can never have enough arbors can you? Arbors are a design element for a garden that add vertical structure and can provide definition to garden areas. Today I put together a very simple gateway arbor as an entrance to the shade garden I’ve built for Lowe’s Creative Ideas. The last I built used gutters to create planters but this arbor’s purpose is to provide definition to the entrance to the shade garden. The arbor will also serve as a way to string a coated wire line around the perimeter of the garden to prevent deer from eating my hostas! This structure is very simply constructed and from start to finish could easily be done in a single day of work. In fact you probably could build several arbors like this in a single day.
I dug the post holes yesterday. They weren’t too hard to dig back in the shady and humus rich soil of the back part of our yard. Our yard is an anomaly in the mostly clay and limestone filled Tennessee landscapes!
Putting in the arbor was a simple job. I used two 4×4 post pieces and two pieces of decking cut to 78 inches for the top cross pieces (the posts are set 64 inches apart which allows for a 6″ overhang on either side of the posts). To connect the top crosspieces I opted for a heavy duty screw that is normally used to attach a ledger board to a house for decking. These bolts/screws worked perfectly for this arbor and look pretty classy all coated black
See how these cuttings did in the video below!
Once I pieced it all together on the ground and placed some gravel in the post holes I raised the arbor upright into its location. I made a slight adjustment to the gravel in one hole and checked for level several times before securing it.
To secure the arbor I placed two sawhorses nearby and clamped two pieces of decking to either side of the arbor. The decking was resting on the sawhorses and should remain in a fixed location until the concrete can cure.
The decking was reclaimed wood from an old deck but the screws, posts, and concrete all came from Lowe’s in Spring Hill, TN. While I was at the store to get the screws I happened across two plants that had to come home with me! One of which will go into this shade garden. ‘American Hero’ Hosta has thick leaves and a nice variegation. Thicker leaves are usually more resistant to slugs. The flowers are fragrant too.
My other find was this echinacea. It’s called Sombrero Red Coral. I think you can see why! The blooms are a spectacular orange that changes to red.
The perimeter wire line fence still needs done but the arbor gives it a good start! So far the deer have left the hostas alone without the fence so maybe my planting strategy if mixing deer resistant plants with the hostas is working!
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Dave,
Looks like a cool project. Plant lavender deer run from it!! Hosta are like candy to a deer you know.
Hi Dave! 🙂 You are always up to creating something new… (You and Randy)! Looks great and I really like the one with the rain gutters.
Sadly, my home handyman passed away 6 months ago Monday, so I have no one to do such projects for me now. And I haven't yet seen this coneflower around here, though I do have quite a number of similar colours and shapes. They are irresistible, so I will simply encourage you in your echinacea habits!
Looks like you are also enjoying your time creating such project or gardening as like this. I also like to decorate our garden at home though sometimes I most likely use synthetic grass rather than the real one.