It’s never too late in the season to upgrade your yard. Even as the summer months wind down, fall offers plenty of opportunities for relaxing and entertaining in your yard for a few more months. It makes sense, therefore, to find a way to bring your yard to the next level with something permanent that will last beyond the last of the summer flowers. In this case, you need to look no further than a pergola to make your outdoor living better.
What Is A Pergola?
The key features of a pergola are the simple post and beam design. The load-bearing beams sit on posts attached to the deck, with rafters attached to your existing flat surface that support a series of horizontal lattice. Some larger pergolas will have the beams going in both directions to give the roof of the pergola more strength, and you can opt for this design if you want more shade under your pergola.
Popular Pergola Designs
As you’re looking for a way to upgrade your yard to make your outdoor living better, a pergola is an affordable and efficient way to add some classic beauty to your garden, as well as creating a unique space to sit under. You can use a pergola to define an outdoor dining area, a sheltered place to grill or simply a place to sit around a fire put to ward off the cooler evenings. Some popular pergola designs include:
- Add a trellis for privacy – one of the slight drawbacks of a pergola is that it is completely open on all sides. While on the one hand this means that you get unparalleled 360 degree views out over your yard, it also means that your dinner party is visible to everyone in your neighbourhood. Adding a trellis to one or more sides of your pergola allows you to block off prying eyes while also giving you a place to add lights or climbing flowers to make your pergola area into a private oasis.
- Incorporate your garden – if you look up pictures of pergolas in Mediterranean countries, you’ll see that they always have greenery growing up the sides. Incorporate your garden with climbing flowers in pots at the base of each post. Great options include clematis, wisteria and jasmine for an extra scent of summer.
- Enhance existing features – finally, you can enhance your yard by picking up on existing design features from your home with your pergola. If the siding on your house has a unique pattern or wood type, use these in your pergola design. You can also use your new pergola to frame special design aspects of your home such as a second floor balcony or bay window.
