Making an arch for flowers with your own hands: instructions and tips

Types and features

Before you begin choosing the design and selecting materials for the future product, you need to determine its location.

It can stand separately, then it will be an isolated structure. It is often placed at the entrance to the garden, for example.
Several combined structures will form a tunnel. But in this case, the garden area must match; in small areas it will look out of place.
You can decorate an empty wall of the house, make a corner extension, then the decorative part will become its continuation. But still, more often pergolas - wooden canopies - are placed in this way.

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Flower Market

Design Rules

When designing a future product, it is also important to take into account a number of points.

Its height should be at least 2 meters so that the support does not look squat and cramped. And more than 3 meters, otherwise it will be too bulky and high.
Width - at least one and a half meters. Otherwise, when the flowers grow, the structure will have an unkempt, neglected appearance.
The model can be mobile, without support, then it can be easily moved around the site. But in this case, carefully choose a climbing plant; it should not be heavy.
Don’t forget about aesthetics; in winter, the structure will stand without plants, so its appearance should not clutter or spoil the landscape.
Forged products are good in a classic garden, and wooden ones are suitable for simple areas decorated in rustic or Provence style.

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How to choose a place to install a pergola

A pergola looks great in any part of a suburban area, but it would be rational to place it above garden paths. If you build a patio, a pergola will help decorate it and turn it into a “green room.” No matter where the pergola is located on the dacha plot, it will serve as the connecting link of the entire design of the plot.

Plants for pergola

In order for the pergola to become an integral part of the suburban area, it is planted with climbing plants. They can form a dense shadow, or they can let the sun's rays through. The most common plant for a pergola is the technical or ornamental grape vine.

The following plants also look interesting:

hop,
honeysuckle,
wood plier,
clematis,
nasturtium,
bindweed,
Chinese lemongrass.

If the suburban area is located in the southern region, then wisteria or roses will grow well on the pergola.

Advice. Climbing plants that wrap around a pergola require regular and proper care. It is necessary to constantly feed them with minerals and nutrients, since such plants will be in an unprotected state from exposure to sunlight. If this is not done, then over time the plant will die, and it will be quite difficult to revive it.

Pergola compositions in suburban areas are often decorated with flower beds.

Metal arch

Almost every rose fan dreams of a forged flower arch in the garden, but making it with your own hands is very difficult. As an alternative material, corrugated reinforcement can be used.

Metal is stronger than wood and will last longer, plus it requires much less maintenance. However, keep in mind that in winter this design element does not look very picturesque.

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Materials

Reinforcement rods with a diameter of 10 mm and a length of 6 meters - 2 pieces. This is the basis.
Reinforcement rods with a diameter of up to 6 mm and a length of up to 90 cm, depending on the distance between the supports. These rods are used to make jumpers that are attached between the arches.
Enamel or primer for coating metal.
A pipe bender will make installation easier.

Work order

The first thing to do is bend two arcs. These will be the supports. The easiest way to do this is with a pipe bender. But you can try it manually.
To do this, draw a circle on the ground. Drive the pins into the resulting circle; they will support the rod. The more pins, the smoother the bend will be. You can lay siding between the reinforcement and the pins, this will also make the process easier.
You won’t be able to make an arc this way alone; you need an assistant. At the same time, start bending the reinforcement from the ends until the rod takes the desired shape.
When the two support arcs are ready, drive them into the ground to a depth of approximately 45-60 cm.
Align them using a metal strip that can be secured with wire. Control the level.
Using this bar as a guide, you can weld transverse metal rods.

The procedure and features of the work are presented in the video below.

Integration into ready-made landscape design

When arranging an arch among established landscape locations, it is necessary to balance their sizes.

If it is necessary to emphasize the beauty of an alpine slide or fountain, it is necessary to achieve the so-called “frame effect” by choosing the size in such a way that the specified effect is maintained even when observed from a great distance.

Come up with your own design by studying the collection of photos of a garden arch.

From the branches

How to make a flower arch with your own hands with virtually no tools? Using natural materials, or rather twigs. In addition, it will be the most environmentally friendly option. Only materials should be purchased in the store, and not collected in the nearby forest.

Flexible wood species are best suited - willow, birch. The frame is made of wood or larger branches.

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In this case, the only tools you will need are pruning shears, scissors, regular and for metal, for cutting threads or wire. With their help, the rods are attached to the frame.

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The process is presented in the video:

But keep in mind that such an arch will not last you more than one season, so you should choose annual plants so that the work of growing them does not go in vain.

Metal

Forged products look stylish and original, but they are more expensive. Such options become luxurious decor. Craftsmen create garden arches from metal from rods of small thickness.

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There is no need to prepare a base to install the model. To protect the structure from corrosion, special compounds are purchased.

Made of plastic

Not the most environmentally friendly option - made from plastic corrugated pipes. But it is definitely one of the cheapest, and in the photo it is almost impossible to distinguish it from metal.

Materials

To make such a structure you will need the following materials.

Two pipes - to create longitudinal beams. Their length will correspond to the width of the structure, that is, it should not be less than 120 mm.
Products made from PVC, polyethylene, and polypropylene are suitable. The last two types are easy to bend, so you can make a frame with an arc rather than a straight one.
The shorter lengths will be used to create the support and cross beams.
To connect the tubes to each other, adapters selected according to the diameter of the pipes are used.

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Work order

Long pipes are cut into several short ones to ensure connection with the cross beams and make the structure more stable.
The pipes can be attached to each other either using glue or by heating.
Since this is a very light structure, special attention is paid to the support and foundation. And then even a strong gust of wind will not be able to blow it away or overturn it.
To strengthen the system, reinforcing pins are attached to the plastic support beams on the mounting foam. Allow to dry.
These pins are deepened approximately 50 - 100 cm into the ground.
The earth around is covered and compacted tightly.

The process of manufacturing such a structure from plastic can be studied in the video:

Plants for decoration

Plants for decoration should be able to easily withstand wintering or be annuals. Some designs are designed for fastening flower containers in which annuals (plants that bloom only one summer) are grown. But more often they choose perennial plants - lianas - decorative and fruit-bearing. The following types of plants are suitable for decoration:

Ampelous container annuals and perennials - calibrachoa, petunia, pelargonium, strawberry, ivy, lobelia.
Annual vines - morning glory, fire-red decorative bean, kobeya, thunbergia sweet pea.
Perennial vines - climbing roses (climbing varieties Florentina, Paul Noel, Ghislaine de Feligonde, others), hops, maiden (wild) and fruit grapes (Amur hybrid varieties, Constance Spry, Zephirine Drouhin, Alpha, etc.).
“Living” - when the structure is decorated using wood. But it is quite difficult to care for her. They are formed mainly on the basis of hawthorn, rowan, birch, serviceberry, and linden. You can buy a ready-made one, but it is expensive - the approximate price of a structure with rowan is about 200,000 rubles.

Combined arch

Very often you can find models made from several materials. The most popular is the combination of wood and metal. The supports are made of wood, and the upper arc is made of metal. Wood and plastic are combined using the same principle.

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Structures with brick or stone columns - a base and a wooden top - look monumental. But such buildings are suitable for large plots with architecture in the same style. And heavy climbing plants. Selecting the right ones will be discussed further.

Materials for production

If everything is clear and simple with the design and appearance of the arch, then not many can imagine that a pergola is a structure that can serve as a decorative element in decorating a garden plot

, or maybe on hot summer days to protect from the sun's rays. All this may be determined by the size of such a structure and the purposes of its use. Garden arches and pergolas can be made of wood, metal, stone, or a combination.

Thus, we can conclude that a pergola is a gardening structure, which is a wooden or metal frame with a flat or spherical surface, and it is supported by columns or pillars. Pergolas can allow light to pass through, or they can have a lattice-like canopy.

Pergola covered with plants

A pergola has always been built to support some kind of plants. A pergola for grapes looks very interesting on a country plot. Today it has become very fashionable to hold wedding ceremonies outdoors. The ceremony cannot be decorated without using a garden arch such as a pergola for roses. The newlyweds stand in it at the time of their marriage. Typically, such decorative structures are made of metal using forged elements. These designs are small in size but look very elegant.

Pergola for roses

Now pergolas on a suburban site serve as a dividing element between the individual zones of the site. They can be the entrance to a recreation area or gazebo. A pergola at the entrance to the site will also look very interesting. You can build it with a small gate. Such structures are made over paths and decorated with climbing plants.

The word "pergola" is translated from Italian as "trellises". A pergola is not only a decorative garden arch, but also a canopy that is added to the house. Quite massive structures of this type were erected in Ancient Rome. They could be very long and wide and covered the leading streets of a city or village from the sun. Also, dining areas were often made under such a unique canopy.

the design of a pergola located next to the house and used as a canopy

In Egypt, wood was practically not used. Their pergolas were made of stone. Late Renaissance gardens contained a large number of such decorative arches.

Interest in pergolas has not disappeared at the moment. They have become very popular, and in almost every suburban area you can find pergolas of different sizes and made of different materials.

Lightweight pergolas, which were built using two poles fixed crosswise, are called trellises or trellises.

Pergola made of stone

The main thing is that the entire structure has good strength and can withstand strong gusts of wind.